•% 


Kf 


A  SURE  WAY 

TO  FIND  OUT 

THE  TRUE  RELIGION 


IN  A 

C  ONVE R  S ATI O  N 

BETWEEN 

A  FATHER  AND  HIS  SON. 


BY 

REY.  T.  BADDELEY.  D 


“  If  any  man  preach  any  other  gospel  unto  you  than  that  you 
have  received,  let  him  he  accursed.”  —  Gal.  I.  9. 


BOSTON: 

PATRICK  DONAIIOE. 

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83  / 


I 


A  SURE  WAY 


TO  FIND  OUT 

THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


DIALOGUE  I., 

Q.  Pray  what  must  a  person  do  to  save  his 
soul? 

A.  He  must  live  up  to  the  rules  and  regula¬ 
tions  of  that  religion  which  our  divine  Saviour 
came  to  establish. 

Q.  But  why  do  you  say  that  religion  which 
Christ  came  down  from  heaven  to  establish;  has 
not  Christ  established  all  religions? 

A.  Yo:  Christ  established  only  one  religion 
—  all  the  rest  were  made  by  men. 

Q.  How  do  you  know  that  Christ  established 
only  one  religion  ? 

A.  Because  there  is  a  great  deal  of  contradic¬ 
tion  between  the  doctrines  of  any  two  religions ; 
which  shows  clearly  that  Christ  could  not  form 
them  both ;  because  as  he  is  Truth  itself,  he  can¬ 
not  teach  contrary  to  what  he  once  said.  Christ, 


4 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


for  instance,  cannot  teach  the  Iloman  Catholic 
that  there  arc  seven  sacraments,  and  afterwards 
teacli  the  Protestant  that  there  are  only  two. 
Again :  with  regard  to  the  Blessed  Eucharist  or 
the  Lord’s  Supper,  he  cannot  tell  the  Catholic 
that  it  reallv  and  truly  is  llis  sacred  Body  and 
Blood,  and  afterwards  tell  the  Protestant  that  it 
is  nothing  but  bread  and  wine  taken  in  com¬ 
memoration  only  of  him.  Therefore,  if  Christ 
has  taught  the  Protestant  doctrine,  the  Catholic 
doctrine  is  false ;  if  he  has  taught  the  Catholic, 
the  Protestant  doctrine  must  be  false:  they  can¬ 
not  both  be  true. 

Q.  But  though  Christ  established  only  one 
religion,  arc  not  all  religions  false? 

A.  Most  certainly  not.  For  when  our  Sa¬ 
viour  came  to  establish  his  religion,  he  made  it 
perfect  and  complete  in  all  its  parts.  lie  made 
it  pure,  without  spot  or  wrinkle ,  Ephes.  v.  27,  and 
the  very  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth ,  1  Tim. 
iii.  15.  lie  likewise  commanded  all  to  obey  and 
believe  the  same  under  pain  of  eternal  damna¬ 
tion  ;  for  if  he  will  not  hear  the  church,  let  him  be 
to  thee  as  the  heathen  and  the  publican ,  Matt,  xviii. 
17.  lie  that  beliei'etli  not  shall  be  damned,  Mark 
xvi.  16.  We  read  also  in  St.  Paul,  that  if  any 
person,  or  even  »an  angel  from  heaven,  should 
dare  to  preach  another  religion  besides  that  which 
he  preached,  he  should  be  accursed.  Though  we, 
says  he,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  preach  a  gospel 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


5 


to  you  besides  that  which  we  have  preached  to  you , 
let  him  be  accursed ,  Gal.  i.  8.  We  see,  therefore, 
from  the  word  of  God,  that  God  lias  commanded 
all  to  obey  and  hear  his  church ;  and  that  he  pro¬ 
nounces  a  curse  upon  the  man,  or  even  an  angel, 
that  shall  dare  to  teach  a  different  religion. 
Now,  as  we  have  seen  before,  the  religions^ 
formed  bv  men  are  different  from  the  religions 
established  by  Almighty  God ;  therefore  they  are 
accursed  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  consequently 
cannot  be  good. 

Q.  But  may  not  this  regard  only  those  relig¬ 
ions  that  teach  a  wicked  doctrine?  For  how  can 
a  religion  which  teaches  holiness  and  godliness 
displease  Almighty  God? 

A.  This  is  a  very  common  objection ;  but  it  is 
founded  on  a  mistake.  For  Christ  has  made  two 
things  necessary  to  salvation,  viz.,  true*  faith 
and  works.  Without  faith ,  according  to  Holy 
Scripture,  it  is  impossible  to  please  God,  Heb.  ii.  G. 
And  again,  as  the  body  without  the  spirit  is  dead, 
so  also  faith  without  works  is  dead,  James  ii.  26. 
Here  then  you  see  very  plainly  from  the  word  of 
God  that  two  things  arc  necessary  to  salvation, 
true  faith  and  good  works.  Both  these  must 
be  joined  together.  Therefore,  a  religion  which 
teaches  good  works,  but  yet  has  not  the  true 
faith,  is  not  sufficient  for  salvation.  Now,  the 
religions  made  by  man  have  not  the  true  faith  ; 
that  is,  any  real  faith  at  all ;  because,  as  we  have 


6 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


seen  above,  they  teach  doctrines  different  from 
the  doctrines  of  Christ.  They  command  ns  to 
believe  either  more  or  less  than  Christ  command¬ 
ed.  Tims,  in  both  cases,  these  religions  displease 
God;  because  they  pervert  the  gospel  of  Christ , 
Gal.  i.  7.  They  exchange  the  doctrine  of  God 
for  the  doctrine- of  men;  they  teach  a  doctrine 
which  they  have  not  received  from  Christ ;  and 
therefore,  as  we  said  before ,  so  say  I  now  again ; 
if  any  man  preach  ajiy  other  gospel  unto  you  than 
that  you  have  received,  let  him  be  accursed,  Gal.  i.  9. 

Q.  Still  do  not  all  religions  aim  at  the  same 
place,  and  all  strive  to  conduct  us  to  heaven? 
We  only  go  by  different  ways,  just  like  travellers 
who  are  going  to  London ;  some  by  one  way, 
and  some  by  another,  but  they  all  meet  at  the 
same  place  at  last. 

A.  -You  can  go  to  London,  indeed,  if  you 
please,  even  over  hedge  and  ditch;  but  you  can¬ 
not  go  to  heaven  by  any  other  way  than  by  that 
way  which  Christ  has  marked  out;  that  is,  by 
faith  and  good  works.  And,  as  we  have  seen 
above,  that  the  religions  which  are  forged  by 
man  have  not  the  true  faith,  therefore  they 
are  not  the  way  which  Christ  has  marked  out, 
and  consequently  cannot  lead  to  heaven. 

Q.  But  does  not  the  Bible  say  that  a  remnant 
of  all  religions  shall  be  saved? 

A.  No  suoh  thing;  St.  Paul  says,  that  only  a 
remnant,  or  a  small  number  of  the  children  of 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION.  7 

Israel,  before  the  last  day  shall  be  converted  and 
saved;  for,  if  the  number  of  the  children  of  Israel 
be  as  the  sand  of  the  sea ,  a  remnant ,  saith  he,  shall 
be  savea,  Rom.  ix.  27.  But  we  nowhere  read  in 
the  Bible  that  a  remnant  of  all  religions  shall  be 
saved;  on  the  contrary,  we  read  in  St.  John  that 
Christ  said,  other  sheep  I  have  which  are  not  of  this 
fold;  them  also  I  must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear 
my  voice ,  and  they  shall  be  one  fold  and  one 
shepherd,  John  x.  1G.  Here  Christ  is  speaking 
to  those  who  are  not  of  the  same  religion  with 
his  apostles ;  and  he  shows  that  there  is  no  sal¬ 
vation  for  them  in  the  state  they  are  in,  and 
•  therefore  he  says,  them  also  I  must  bring.  This 
proves  clearly,  that  they  must  be  brought  into 
the  one  fold,  which  is  his  Church,  if  they  wish 
to  be  saved.  And,  when  the  apostles  began  to 
preach  the  gospel,  the  Lord  daily  added  to  the 
church  such  as  should  be  saved ,  Acts  ii.  47.  Con¬ 
sequently  those  that  were  not  added  to  the  church 
were  not  saved.  How,  as  the  Church  of  Christ 
can  comprise  only  one  religion  (for  it  is  highly 
absurd  to  say,  that  God  can  reveal  two  religions 
which  contradict  each  other,  as  in  fact  all  the 
religions  in  the  world  do  contradict  each  other), 
therefore  it  is  highly  absurd  to  say,  that  God  has 
revealed  more  religions  than  one.  Since,  then, 
the  Church  of  Christ  can  be  only  one  religion, 
and  the  Lord  added  to  this  religion  such  as 
should  be  saved,  therefore,  ordinarily,  those  that 


8 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


are  not  of  this  religion  cannot  be  saved ;  and  as 
all  religions  formed  by  men  differ  from  this, 
therefore  it  is  not  true  to  say.  that  a  remnant  of 
all  religions  shall  be  saved. 

Q.  But  is  it  not  a  very  cruel  and  uncharitable 
doctrine  to  say  that  none  can  be  saved  out  of  this 
one  church,  or  who  do  not  believe  as  this  church 
does? 

A.  Quite  the  contrary;  for  as  I  have  before 
proved  that  God  revealed  but  one  religion ,  and 
commanded  all  to  hear  and  obey  the  same,  under 
pain  of  damnation,  is  it  not  charitable  to  tell 
people  so,  lest  otherwise  they  should  lose  their 
souls  bv  following  the  religions  of  men,  which 
can  never  lead  them  to  heaven?  Suppose  a  poor 
man  had  lost  his  way,  and  was  travelling  in  the 
darkness  of  night,  over  afield  hollowed  by  mines, 
etc.,  where  lie  was  sure  in  a  few  moments  to  be 
dashed  to  pieces  by  falling  down  some  old  un¬ 
guarded  coal-pit;  would  it  not  be  very  kind  and 
charitable  to  forewarn  him  of  his  danger,  and 
lead  him  back  to  the  safe  road? 

Q.  Suppose  in  the  uprightness  of  my  heart  I 
follow  the  religions  of  men,  and  always  do  what 
I  think  is  just,  shall  I  not  be  pleasing  in  the  sight 
of  God? 

A.  I  have  already  answered  this  question, 
where  1  have  shown  you  that  two  things  are  ncc- 
essary  for  salvation,  viz.,  true  faitii  and-  good 
works  ;  and  that  both  these  must  be  joined  to- 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


9 


gether.  Therefore  that  religion  which  has  not 
the  true  faitii,  but  teaches  you  to  do  only  what 
you  think  is  just;  that  religion  cannot,  I  say, 
make  you  pleasing  in  the  sight  of  Clod,  because 
you  have  not  faith,  without  which  it  is  impossible 
to  please  God,  Ileb.  xi.  6.  Excepting  in  the  case, 
of  invincible  or  inculpable  ignorance. 

Q.  But  is  it  not  right  that  every  person  should 
stick  to  his  own  religion,  and  very  wrong  for 
him  to  turn  from  the  religion  in  which  he  has 
been  brought  up? 

A.  Ridiculous.  You  have  seen  above  that  the 
religions  made  by  men  are  hateful  in  the  sight 
of  God,  surely  then  it  never  can  be  wrong  to 
leave  these  religions;  on  the  contrary,  every 
person  rs  bound  in  conscience  from  such  to  turn 
away,  2  Tim.  iii.  5.  And  moreover,  if  it  is 
-wrong  to  turn  from  the  religion  in  which  we 
were  born,  why  did  Christ  call  his  apostles  from 
the  Jewish  religion,  in  which  they  were  born? 
And  why  did  the  apostles  persuade  so  many 
thousands  of  Jews,  Greeks,  and  Barbarians  to 
turn  from  the  religions  in  which  they  were 
brought  up?  Therefore,  if  a  person  finds  that 
he  was  born  in  a  false  religion,  he  must  turn 
from  that  religion.  Now  I  have  shown  you  that 
•there  is  but  one  true  religion.  Every  one 
therefore  must  try  to  find  it  out;  and  when  he 
has  found  it,  like  St.  Paul,  lic.must  turn  from  his 
own  religion,  which  is  false,  and  follow  the  true 


10 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


one ;  otherwise  lie  will  be  following  a  blind  guide. 
Now  the  Bible  says,  if  the  blind  lead  the  blind ,  they 
shall  both  fall  into  the  pit,  Matt.  xv.  14. 

Q.  But,  among  so  many  different  religions, 
how  can  1  find  out  that  which  Christ  has  re¬ 
vealed  ? 

A.  By  certain  signs  or  marks;  for  good  sense 
tells  us,  that  the  true  church  must  always  teach 
one  and  the  same  doctrine;  that  this  doctrine  must 
bp  holy,  and  must  make  people  holy,  who  follow  it 
in  practice;  that  she  must  be  widely  spread  over 
the  world ;  and  lastly,  that  she  must  teach  the 
same  doctrine  as  the  apostles  did,  and  come  reg¬ 
ularly  clown  from  father  to  son  from  the  time  of  the 
apostles,  through  every  age,  down  to  our  time. 
Good  sense  will  show  this  to  every  thinking 
man.  So  that  it  is  plain  that  the  true  church  has 
these  four  marks,  Unity,  Holiness,  Catholicity, 
and  Apostolic  it  y. 


DIALOGUE  II. 

m 

'On  Unity,  the  First  Mark. 

Q.  Why  must  the  true  church  have  unity  ? 

A.  Because  the  true  church  is  taught  bv  Christ. 
Therefore  she  can  teach  that  doctrine  only  which 
Christ  has  taught  her;  neither  more  nor  less. 
She  must,  therefore,  always  teach  one  and  the 
same  doctrine ;  and  this  is  what  I  here  mean  by 
unity.  This  inference,  which  is  so  clear  from 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


11 


common  sense,  is  still  more  clear  from  the  word 
of  God.  St.  Paul  says,  Be  careful  to  keep  the 
unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace.  One  body 
and  one  spirit ,  as  you  are  called  in  the  hope  of  your 
calling.  One  Lord ,  one  faith,  one  baptism ,  Ephes. 
iv.  3,  4,  5.  Again  he  says,  Let  us  continue  in  the 
same  rule ,  Phil.  iii.  16.  And  in  another  place  he 
writes  —  Now  I  beseech  you ,  brethren,  by  the  name 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  you  all  speak  the 
same  thing,  and  that  there  be  no  division  among 
you,  but  that  you  be  perfectly  joined  together  in  the 
same  mind,  and  in  the  same  judgment,  1  Cor.  i. 
10.  And,  above  all,  our  Divine  Saviour  declares 
that  there  shall  be  one  fold  and  one  shepherd, 
John  x.  16. 

Q.  But  may  not  the  Protestant  Church  be 
termed  one? 

A.  Not  with  the  smallest  propriety.  There  is 
nothing  but  discord  among  them :  chopping  and 
changing  their  creeds,  as  often  as  they  change 
their  clothes.  They  are  neither  one  in  doctrine, 
nor  one  in  worship.  Hear  what  Dudith  him¬ 
self,  a  learned  Protestant,  writes  on  this  subject: 
“  Our  people  (the  Protestants)  are  carried  away 
by  every  wind  of  doctrine.  If  you  know  what 
their  belief  is  to-day,  you  cannot  tell  what  it 
will  be  to-morrow.  If  you  run  over  all  the  ar¬ 
ticles —  from  the  first  to  the  last  —  you  will  not 
find  one  which  is  not  held  by  some  of  them  to 
be  an  article  of  faith,  and  rejected  by  others  as 


12 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


an  impiety.”  *  Doctor  Blackburn,  Archdeacon 
of  Cleveland,  says  “  that  he  has  very  good  rea¬ 
son  to  believe,  that  of  one  hundred  Protestant 
parsons  who  every  year  swear  to  believe  and 
teach  the  thirty-nine  articles,  which  are  in  the 
book  of  common  prayer,  not  above  twenty  of 
them  (I  say  not  two  of  them)  believe  these  ar¬ 
ticles  in  the  same  sense.”  f  Nay,  Dr.  Clayton,  a 
Protestant  Bishop  of  Cloghcr,  asserts  “  that  no 
two  thinking  men  ever  agreed  exactly  in  their 
opinion,  even  with  regard  to  any  one  article  of 
it,  viz. :  the  book  of  common  prayer.”  X 
Again,  there  are  whole  societies  who  do  not 
believe  the  doctrine  of  what  is  called  the  Estab¬ 
lished  Church ;  yet,  each  of  them  declares  that 
they  are  the  true  and  real  church  of  England. 
Such  arc  the  non-jurors,  who  maintain  the  orig¬ 
inal  doctrine  of  the  church  of  England,  contained 
in  the  homilies,  concerning  passive  obedience 
and  non-resistance,  and  who  keep  to  the  first 
ritual  of  Edward  VI.  Such  arc  the  evangelical 
preachers  and  their  disciples,  who  insist  that  pure 
Calvinism  is  the  creed  of  the  church  of  England. 
Finally,  such  are  the  Methodists  whom  Professor 
He}'  describes  as  forming  the  old  church  of 
England.  And  even  now  it  is  wrell  known,  that 
Protestant  parsons  not  unfrequently  preach  in 

*Epist.  ad  Capitol,  inter  Epist.  Bezse. 

f  Confess.  3d,  p.  40. 

J  Confess.  Black,  3d  Ed. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


13 


the  churches  in  the  morning,  and  in  the  meeting¬ 
houses  in  the  evening.  Moreover,  in  the  reign 
of  King  Henry  VIII.,  the  Protestants  had  but 
six  articles  of  faith,  which  they  were  bound  to 
believe ;  nevertheless,  in  a  few  years  afterwards, 
under  King  Edward  VI.,  they  changed  them 
into  forty-two,  which  remained  till  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  and  then  they  cut  them  down 
to  thirtv-nine,  as  thev  now  stand  in  the  book  of 
common  prayer.  From  this  short  view  of  the 
Protestant  doctrine,  it  is  very  clear  that  they  do 
not  continue  in  the  same  rule ,  Phil.  iii.  16,  nor  all 
speak  the  same  thing,  1  Cor.  i.  10,  and  therefore 
they  have  not  unity  of  doctrine. 

Q.  It  seems,  then,  that  Protestants  do  not  all 
speak  the  same  tiling ;  but  pray  what  religion 
does  ? 

A.  The  Roman  Catholic  Religion;  she  never 
changes ;  she  believes  the  same  creed,  and  teaches 
the  same  doctrine  throughout  the  whole  world. 
For  instance,  the  Catholics  of  England  teach  and 
believe  the  very  same  articles  of  faith  as  the 
Catholics  do  who  live  in  the  East  Indies,  West 
Indies,  France,  Spain,  Poland,  or  any  other  place 
you  can  name.  Moreover,  the  Catholics  all  be¬ 
lieve  the  same  doctrine  this  day,  as  they  did  in 
the  timer  of  the  apostles.  But  perhaps  you  will 
say,  that  this  remains  to  be  proved.  Well,  then, 
let  us  examine  the  Council  of  Nice,  which  was 
held  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  325,  to  declare  what 


•  14 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


was  tlie  belief  of  the  Catholic  Church  against  the 
errors  of  Arius.  This  holy  synod  did  not  teach 
any  new  doctrine:  it  only  declared  what  things 
Christ  and  his  apostles  had  taught ;  and  it  showed 
most  clearly,  that  the  same  things  had  been 
taught  by  the  apostles  and  their  successors,  the 
bishops  and  priests  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
down  to  that  time.  Now  take  the  doctrines 
which  were  declared  articles  of  faith  by  the 
Council  of  Nice,  and  compare  them  with  the 
doctrines  declared  to  be  articles  of  faith  by  the 
Council  of  Trent,  and  sec  if  you  find  any  differ¬ 
ence.  And  take  notice,  that  between  the  Coun¬ 
cil  of  Nice  and  that  of  Trent,  there  was  the 
space  of  1239  years.  Try,  then,  I  say,  to  find 
out  some  difference  between  these  two  councils. 

,.'You  may  try,  but  you  will  try  in  vain;  for  the 
Catholic  Church,  like  her  Divine  Founder,  is  the 
same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever,  Ileb.  xiii.  8. 

Q.  But  have  not  Protestants  at  least  unity  of 
iv  or  ship  ? 

A.  No  more  unity  of  ivorship  than  they  have 
unity  of  faith.  In  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of 
King  Henry  VIH.,  all  the  people  of  England 
were  Catholics,  an<J  at  that  time  there  was  not  a 
Protestant  in  the  world.  However,  towards  the 
end  of  his  reign,  the  king  lost  both  his  reason 
and  religion;  he  differed  with  the  Pope,  because 
the  holy  bishop  would  not  let  him  put  away  his 
queen,  and  marry,  as  some  writers  say,  his  own 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


15 


daughter.  After  this  he  became  a  religion- 
maker,  and  then  he  prescribed  a  new  form  of 
.worship.  In  this  he  showed  much  skill ;  for  he 
changed  it  into  so  many  different  forms  —  so 
often  and  so  fast  —  that  the  people  could  not 
keep  pace  with  him.  “  From  the  multiplied 
alterations  which  were  made  in  the  national 
system  of  belief,  mostly  drawn  up  by  Henry 
himself,  few  knew  what  to  think  or  what  to 
profess.  They  were  ready  enough  to  follow  his 
doctrines,  however  inconsistent  or  contradictory 
soever;  but  as  he  was  continually  changing  them 
himself,  they  could  hardly  pursue  so  fast  as  he 
advanced  before  them.”  *  Before  the  king’s 
death,  he  and  his  new  Protestant  Church  made  a 
form  of  faith  and  worship ,  that  was  to  be  believed 
and  practised  by  all  within  the  realm ;  and  if  any 
person  refused  to  comply,  the  punishment  was 
burning  alive. f  This  form  of  worship  did  not 
stand  .long,  for  it  was  changed  by  Act  of  Par¬ 
liament  in  1547.  The  next  year,  1548,  Edward 
'VI.  orders  a  committee  of  twelve  bishops,  and 
six  divines,  to  make  another  form  of  worship. 
It  was  drawn  up  the  same  year,  but  not  com¬ 
manded  to  be  used  till  the  .twenty-fourth  of 
June,  1549;  after  which  time  no  person  was 
allowed  to  use  any  other  form  of  worship ,  either 
in  public  or  private,  without  incurring  very  se- 

*Dr.  Goldsmith’s  Hist.  Eng.,  p.  136. 

t  Reeve’s  Hist.  Ch.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  132. 


1G 


A  SURE  "WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


vere  penalties,  viz. :  imprisonment  and  loss  of 
goods.  Thus  the  same  form  of  worship  stood 
from  1548,  until  they  altered  it  again  in  1552. 
By  this  time  many  thought  that  tills  last  change 
in  their  worship  had  made  it  complete ;  but,  alas ! 
there  is  no  end  of  their  alterations:  for  in  1559, 
Queen  Elizabeth  tried  her  hand  at  making  an¬ 
other  new  form  of  worship ;  and  a  strange  alter¬ 
ation  she  makes.  For  in  the  communion  service 
of  Edward  VI.,  we  find  the  words  Mass  and  sac¬ 
rifice;  and  in  its  celebration  arc  recommended 
to  be  used,  the  altar,  vestments,  and  all  the  orna¬ 
ments  employed  by  Catholics.  It  allows,  com¬ 
munion  in  one  kind,  in  case  of  necessity,  and  the 
keeping  of  the  sacrament.  It  recommends  chrism, 
oils,  commemorations  of  the  Pdcsscd  Virgin  Mary, 
holy  patriarchs,  etc.,  invocation  of  angels,  prayci's 
for  the  dead,  extreme  unction,  crossings,  etc.  This 
liturgy,  the  statute  says,  “  was  made  by  the  aid 
of  the  Holy  Ghost."1  In  the  liturgy  of  Elizabeth, 
all  these  things  which  I  have  just  named  are 
either  left  out,  or  condemned.  And  yet  the 
liturgy  of  Elizabeth,  like  that  of  Edward,  is 
declared  to  be  composed  u  by  the  aid  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.”  Here  is  something  like  a  contradiction. 
For  here  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  is  the  spirit  of 
truth,  teaches  one  thing' to  Edward,  and  the  con¬ 
trary  to  Elizabeth,  and  is  it  not  blasphemy  thus 
to  make  the  Almighty  contradict  his  own  words? 
But  though  they  said  the  Holy  Ghost  made  this 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


17 


last  alteration,  it  did  not  yet  come  up  to  the 
Protestant  perfection.  Wherefore  King  J ames  I. 
tries  his  skill,  and  alters  the  same  form  of  wor¬ 
ship,  in  1603.  It  is  again  altered  under  King 
Charles  II.,  in  1662.  And  lastly,  they  attempted 
it  once  more  in  1689,  hut  grew  tired  before  they 
finished  their  job.*  Upon  which  occasion  Dr. 
Hugh  Weston  merely  said,  “  The  reformation 
was  like  an  ape,  not  knowing  which  way  to  turn 
his  tail.” 

Q.  How,  then,  can  any  thinking  Protestant 
believe  that  his  religion  is  one  ?  But  pray,  are 
the  Catholics  one  in  worship? 

A.  Yes,  the  Catholic  Church  is  most  strictly 
one  in  worship  as  well  as  faith.  For  in  every 
part  of  the  world  she  offers  up  the  same  un¬ 
bloody  sacrifice  of  the  Holy  Mass,  which  is  the 
chief  act  of  divine  worship ;  she  administers  the 
same  seven  sacraments ;  the  festivals  of  our  re¬ 
demption  are  kept  holy  on  the  same  days ;  and 
the  apostolical  fast  of  Lent  is  everywhere  ob¬ 
served.  Spread  as  the  Catholics  are,  more  or 
less,  over  the  face  of  the  whole  earth,  they  all 
continue  in  the  same  rule,  Phil.  iii.  16,  and  conse¬ 
quently  have  both  unity  of  doctrine  and  unity  of 
worship,  which  constitute  the  first  mark  of  the 
true  religion  of  Jesus  Christ. 

*See  Dodd’s  Hist.  Cli.,  vol  i.,  p.  355. 

2 


18 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


DIALOGUE  III. 

On  Holiness,  the  Second  Mark. 

Q.  Pray,  wliat  is  the  second  mark  of  the  true 
Church? 

A.  The  second  mark  of  the  true  Church  is 
holiness  ;  for  surely  no  one  can  think  that  Al¬ 
mighty  God,  who  is  infinitely  holy,  could  estab¬ 
lish  a  religion  devoid  of  holiness.  And  St.  Paul 
declares,  that  Christ  loved  the  Church,  and  gave 
himself  for  it,  that  he  might  sanctify  and  cleanse  it 
—  that  he  might  -present  it  to  himself  a  glorious 
Church ,  not  having  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such 
thing;  but  that  it  should  be  holy,  without  spot  or 
blemish,  Eplies.  v.  25,  20.  Now,  only  one  relig¬ 
ion  can  be  truly  holy;  because  only  one  religion, 
as  I  have  shown  you  above,  can  come  from  Al¬ 
mighty  God.  Therefore  all  religions,  framed  by 
men,  come  not  from  God;  and  for  that  reason, 
they  displease  God,  and  are  therefore  not  holy. 
It  does  not  signify,  then,  to  say  this  or  that  re¬ 
ligion  has  this  good  thing,  or  that  good  thing. 
For  Jews,  and  Pagans,  and  Mahometans,  and 
even  the  blind  worshippers  of  Juggernaut,  may 
do  some  good  things;  yet  surely  no  one  will  say 
that  their  religion  is  holy.  And,  moreover,  men 
may  even  work  wonders  and  miracles,  and  yet 
not  be  holy  after  all.  For  our  Divine  Saviour 
says,  Many  will  say  to  me  on  that  day,  Lord,  Lord , 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


19 


have  we  not  prophecied  in  thy  name  ?  and  in  thy 
name  have  cast  out  devils  ?  and  in  thy  name  have 
done  many  wonderful  works ?  And  then  will  I 
profess  unto  them ,  I  never  knew  you.  Depart  from 
me,  ye  that  work  iniquity,  Matt.  vii.  22,  23. 

Q.  This  is  very  alarming,  because  I  see  that 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  false  holiness.  How 
then  must  I  discern  true  holiness  from  that  which 
is  false  ? 

A.  To  help  you  to  do  this,  you  must  observe 
that  a  holy  church  must  have,  1st,  holy  doctrine; 
2dly,  holy  practices ;  3dly,  holy  fruits ;  4thly, 
marks  of  God's  favor  and  approbation. 

Q.  Have  not  the  Protestants  holiness  of  doc¬ 
trine  ? 

A.  By  no  means;  for  it  is  well  known,  that 
their  first  preachers  taught  these  wicked  and 
abominable  doctrines:  “  That  God  is  the  author 
of  sin  ;  ”  *  “  That  man  has  no  free  will  to  enable 
him  to  avoid  sin;”f  “That  it  is  impossible  to 
observe  the  commandments ;  ”  $  “  That  the  most 
enormous  crimes  “  do  not  injure  a  person  in  the 
sight  of  God”;§  “That  faith  alone  will  save  a 
man;  that  we  are  justified  by  faith  only  is  a 
most  wholesome  doctrine  (says  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer),  and  very  full  of  comfort.”  || 
“  Only  believe,”  says  the  father  of  the  refor- 

*Cal.  Inst.,  L.  1.  flnst.,  L.  2. 

JDe  Lib.,  A.  d.  §Inst.,  L.  3,  c.  12. 

||  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  Art.  11. 


20 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


mation,  u  and  without  the  load  of  fasts,  and  the 
mortification  of  abstinences;  without  the  pain 
of  confession,  and  the  hardship  of  good  works, 
depend  upon  it  you  will  be  saved;  —  you  arc 
even  as  sure  of  salvation  as  is  Christ  himself. 
Yes;  six,  and  six  boldly;  oxly  believe;  and 
your  faith,  although  you  commit  fornication,  or 
commit  murder,  a  thousand  times  a  day,  only 
believe,  I  say,  and  your  faith  shall  save  you.”  * 

Q.  Strange  holiness  is  this  to  be  sure:  won¬ 
derful  morality  of  our  evangelical  reformers! 
Can  we  find  no  better  kind  of  holiness  among 
Catholics? 

A.  Yes;  the  holiness  of  the  Catholic  religion 
is  indeed  very  different  from  that  of  other  relig¬ 
ions,  because  the  religions  framed  by  men  teach 
doctrines  invented  by  Luther,  Calvin,  Wesley, 
Whitfield,  and  other  deluded  and  wicked  men, 
whereas  the  Catholic  Church  teaches  onlv  that 

v 

doctrine  which  Christ  taught  his  apostles;  con¬ 
sequently,  if  it  was  holy  then,  it  must  be  holy 
now.  Instead  of  holding  the  blasphemous  doc¬ 
trine  that  God  is  the  author  of  sin,  the  Catholic 
Church  positively  declares  that  God  tempts  no 
man,  James  i.  13,  ancl  in  him  there  is  no  sin, 
1  John  iii.  5.  She  likewise  asserts  that  man  has 
free  will :  The  lust  thereof  shall  be  under  thee, 
and  thou  shalt  have  dominion  over  it,  Gen.  iv.  7. 


♦Luth.  Op.  Passim. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


21 


That  all  the  commandments  can  and  must  he 
kept:  For  they  (Zachary  and  Elizabeth)  were  both 
just  before  God,  walking  in  all  the  commandments 
of  the  Lord  without  blame,  Luke  i.  5.  And  again, 
If  thou  will  enter  into  life,  keep  the  commandments, 
Matt.  ix.  17.  That  faith  alone  will  not  save  us; 
we  must  also  do  good  works,  for  faith  without 
good  works  is  dead,  James  ii.  26.  Finally,  she 
exhorts  us  to  he  perfect,  even  as  also  our  heavenly 
father  is  perfect,  Matt.  x.  48. 

Q.  Perhaps  our  Protestants,  in  lieu  of  holiness 
of  doctrine,  may  follow  holy  practices  ? 

A.  Flo ;  there  is  nothing  in  the  Protestant  re¬ 
ligion  that  can  make  a  man  more  holy,  or  more 
virtuous.  They  have  no  priests  taken  from 
amongst  men,  that  they  may  offer  both  gifts  and 
sacrifices  for  sins,  Ilch.  v.  1.  They  have  no  sac¬ 
rifice  nor  sacraments  except  baptism,  and  that 
they  begin  to  make  light  account  of,  though 
without  baptism  they  cannot  be  Christians. 
They  receive  no  benefit  when  they  go  to  the 
Lord’s  Supper,  because  they  receive  nothing  but 
a  sup  of  wine  and  a  morsel  of  bread ;  they  have 
no  houses  of  devotion,  no  convents  or  monas¬ 
teries  ;  scarcely  a  book  of  spirituality,  as  Burnet, 
Bishop)  of  Salisbury,  complains:  “  The  Papists,” 
says  he,  “  have  solitary  and  retired  houses 
among  them,  for  leading  a  devout  and  strict 
life ;  and  many  excellent  books  of  devotion  have 
been  published  by  many  of  that  communion; 


22 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


and  I  do  not  deny  that  this  is  the  greatest  defect 
of  the  reformation.,  that  there  are  not  in  it  such 
encouragements  to  a  devout  life ;  and  it  really  is 
a  great  defect,  that  we  want  recluse  houses.”  * 
Again :  “  Protestants  have  no  restraints  put  upon 
their  passions  and  appetites ;  no  mortifications,  no 
fasts,  or  next  to  none  are  practised  among  them ; 
no  private  instruction  is  given  to  poor,  ignorant 
people  —  the  children  are  left  to  their  own  will; 
and  there  are  thousands  that  never  say  a  word 
of  catechism,  and  when  they  do  it  cannot  teach 
them  to  be  more  holy  or  virtuous,  because  it 
contains  but  little  morality,  only  a  few  dry  ques¬ 
tions,  such  as:  "What  is  your  name?  Who  gave 
you  that  name?  Who  was  the  strongest  man? 
Who  was  the  man  that  wrestled  with  God?  All 
these  questions  a  child  may  know,  and  yet  not 
know  how  many  Gods  there  are,  or  who  came 
down  from  heaven  to  redeem  him ;  therefore,  if 
there  are  some  good  people  who  profess  the 
Protestant  religion,  it  is  owing  to  the  grace  of 
God,  and  not  to  that  religion  which  cannot  make 
a  man  more  holy  than  itself.” 

Q.  Pray,  are  the  practices  of  Catholics  holy? 

A.  Yes;  every  one  of  their  practices  helps  to 
make  a  man  more  holy  and  pleasing  in  the  sight 
of  God.  In  the  first  place,  they  have  seven  most 
holy  sacraments  all  instituted  by  Christ  our 


*Mys.  of  Iniqui.,  p.  145. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


23 


Lord,  and  which  give  grace  to  the  worthy  re¬ 
ceiver.  They  have  likewise  a  most  holy  sacrifice 
called  the  Mass,  and  priests  taken  from  among 
men  to  offer  up  the  same  to  God  ;  for  he  is  ordained 
for  men  in  things  pertaining  to  God ,  that  he  mag 
offer  both  gifts  and  sacrifices  for  sins,  Iicb.  v.  1. 
Moreover,  they  have  the  communion  of  saints ; 
that  is,  all  the  faithful  on  earth  partake  of  each 
other’s  prayers  and  good  works.  I  am  partaker 
with  all  them  that  fear  thee  and  keep  thy  command¬ 
ments,  Psalm  cxviii.  53.  They  have  fasts  and 
self-denials,  and  other  mortifications ;  they  have 
private  confessions,  in  which  each  one  may  find 
a  sovereign  remedy  for  all  the  maladies  of  his 
soul.  Again:  they  have  convents,  monasteries 
and  other  religious  houses,  where  the  pure  mo¬ 
rality  of  the  gospel  is  practised,  and  vice  and 
impiety  are  excluded.  They  have  many  excellent 
books  of  devotion,  books  of  instruction,  and  his¬ 
tories  of  the  lives  of  all  the  most  eminent  ser¬ 
vants  of  God.  Lastly,  their  children  are  well 
instructed;  the  ignorant  are  enlightened;  the 
doubtful  are  advised;  the  sorrowful  are  com¬ 
forted;  the  sick  and  dying  are  well  attended; 
and  prayers  are  offered  up  daily  to  the  throne 
of  God,  in  behalf  both  of  the  living  and  the 
dead. 

Q.  But  what  are  the  fruits  of  the  Protestant 
religion,  —  as  “  the  tree  is  known  by  its  fruits,” 
Matt.  vii. 


24 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


A.  At  the  very  beginning  of  the  Protestant 
religion  we  find  its  votaries  running  into  all 
manner  of  disorders.  For  example,  —  King 
Henry  VIII.,  the  father  of  the  Protestants  in 
England,  after  living  nineteen  years  with  his 
lawful  married  wife  Queen  Catharine,  and  at  the 
same  time  keeping  two  mistresses,  Elizabeth 
Tailbois,  widow  of  Sir  Gilbert  Tailbois,  and 
Mary  Boleyn,  sister  to  Ann  Boleyn,*  wished  to 
put  away  his  queen ;  and  because-  he  could  not 
get  the  Pope  to  give  his  consent,  he  threw  off  all 
shame,  and  married  Ann  Boleyn,  who  was,  ac¬ 
cording  to  some  authors,  his  own  illegitimate 
daughter  If  As  one  wicked  action  brings  on 
another,  the  king  gives  to  Rowland  Lee  the 
priory  of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury,  with  all  its 
lands,  revenues,  and  beautiful  buildings,  with¬ 
out  having  any  just  claim  even  to  one  stone  on 
the  premises.  Thus  the  impious  king  robbed 
the  Church  of  God  to  pay  this  sacrilegious  priest 
for  performing  the  ceremony  of  marriage  be¬ 
tween  himself  and  Ann  Boleyn,  though  his 
lawful  wife,  Queen  Catharine,  was  still  alive, 
and  the  king  had  not  procured  a  divorce  either 
from  the  Pope  or  parliament !  The  remains  of 
this  noble  priory  are  situated  near  the  River 
Saw,  between  Stafford  and  Taxall,  and  go  by 
the  name  of  Sentimns  Mill. 

*  r  e  Lingard’s  Hist,  of  Eng.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  118. 

fDr.  N.  Sanders  in  lib.  dc  Schismate  Anglicano,  p.  15. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


25 


Soon  after  this  marriage,  the  adulterous  king 
takes  a  fancy  to  Jane  Seymour;  falls  out  with 
Ann ;  cuts  off  her  head  on  the  nineteenth  of  May, 
1536,  and  the  next  day  marries  Seymour.  She 
did  not  live  long ;  and  some  writers  say  that  she 
was  ripped  up  alive  by  the  midwives  in  attend¬ 
ance,  by  order  of  the  tyrant.*  His  next  wife 
was  Ann  of  Cleves,  whom  he  married  to  spite 
the  Pope.  But  from  the  day  of  their  marriage 
he  conceived  a  bitter  dislike  for  her,  put  her 
away,  and  directly  after  married  Lady  Catharine 
Howard.  This  was  his  fifth  wife;  but  it  was 
not  long  before  he  ordered  her  head  to  be  cut  off 
on  Tower  Hill,  and  very  soon  after  married  his 
sixth  and  last  wife,  Catharine  Parr,  who  had  the 
good  luck  to  outlive  him,  though  her  dcatli-war- 
rant  had  been  made  out  by  the  king’s  orders. 
In  all  these  abominable  murders  and  adulteries 
he  was  helped  and  encouraged  by  Archbishop 
Cranmer,  one  of  the  first  founders  of  the  Prot¬ 
estant  religion  in  Great  Britain.  These  are  some 
of  its  precious  fruits ;  but  these  are  not  all.  For, 
the  wicked  king  and  those  about  him,  to  gratify 
their  avarice,  set  the  nation  an  example  of  sacri¬ 
legious  plunder,  such  as  none  but  the  most  aban¬ 
doned,  and  those  that  are  pushed  on  by  the 
power  of  hell,  are  capable  of  committing.  Ac¬ 
cordingly  wre  find  that  at  the  very  beginning  of 


*Spelman  de  non  Temer.  Ecclesiis,  p.  34. 


26 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


Protestantism  in  England,  no  less  tlian  645  mon¬ 
asteries,  90  colleges,  2,374  chantries  and  free 
chapels,  and  110  hospitals  were  taken  away  from 
their  lawful  owners,  and  either  sold  at  a  low 
price,  or  parcelled  out  among  the  courtiers, 
whilst  thousands  of  the  poor  unfortunate  in¬ 
mates  were  deprived  of  a  home,  and  turned 
naked  out  of  doors.  Here  I  will  name  a  few  of 
the  principal  monasteries,  with  their  yearly  rev¬ 
enues,  which  at  the  present  day  would  be  worth 
at  least  five  or  six  times  as  much,  or  more,  that 
were  robbed,  thieved,  and  plundered  by  the  piety 
of  Protestants.  «- 


Monasteries. 

Orders. 

Yearly  Revenues. 

1S6 

Benedictines 

.  £60,877 

14$. 

0  d. 

20 

Cluniacs 

4,972 

9 

2J 

9 

Carthusians 

2,946 

14 

41 

101 

Cistersians  . 

18,691 

12 

6 

73 

Austins 

33,027 

1 

11 

32 

Premonstratentians  . 

4,807 

14 

1 

25 

Gilbertins  . 

2,421 

13 

0 

3 

Fontevrand  Nuns 

824 

8 

61 

3 

Minoresses  . 

548 

10 

6 

1 

Brigettines  . 

1,731 

8 

n 

2 

Bonhommes 

859 

5 

in 

Knights  Hospitallers  . 

5,395 

6 

5i 

Friars  .... 

809 

11 

81 

*£142,914 

12 

9 

Moreover,  thousands  .of  poor  people,  widows 
and  orphans,  sick  and  aged  persons,  who  had 


*  Tanner’s  Notitia,  by  Mr.  Nasmith. 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  LfBRARt 
THE  TRUE  MASS. 27 

been  kept  in  these  hospitals  and  pious  founda¬ 
tions,  were  turned  adrift,  and  died  for  want  of 
bread.  Again,  the  churches  were  seized  and 
plundered;  and,  “  although  some  profit  was 
thereby  raised  to  the  king’s  exchequer,  yet  the 
far  greatest  part  of  the  prey  came  to  other  hands, 
insomuch  that  many  private  persons’  parlors  were 
hung  with  altar  cloths ;  their  tables  and  beds  cov¬ 
ered  with  vestments  and  copes,  instead  of  carpets 
and  coverlets ;  and  many  made  drinking  cups  of 
the  sacred  chalices,  as  once  Belshazzar  celebrated 
his  drunken  feasts  in  the  sanctified  vessels  of  the 
Temple  of  God.”  *  Moreover,  their  avarice  spared 
not  even  the  dead,  but  disturbed  their  remains, 
and  plundered  the  very  plate  off  their  coffins; 
and  at  one  time  the  king  got  so  much  of  this 
sacrilegious  spoil,  as  filled  two  large  chests,  which 
sixteen  men  could  hardly  carry  off.”f  “The 
Duke  of  Somerset,  who  for  some  time  was  the 
head  of  the  Protestant  religion  here,  pulled  down 
the  parish  church  of  St.  Mary’s  in  the  Strand, 
and  three  bishops’  houses,  for  the  materials  to 
build  himself  a  palace.”  X  But  the  workmen 
finding  that  more  materials  would  still  be  want¬ 
ing,  the  duke  next  commanded  them  to  go  and 
pull  down  the  parish  church  of  St.  Margaret’s, 
in  Westminster.  No  sooner,  however,  had  the 

*Heylin’s  Hist.  Reform.,  p.  134. 

t  Goodwin,  p.  152. 

J  Goldsmith’s  Hist.  Eng.,  p.  144. 


28 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


workmen  put  up  their  scaffolds  than  the  parish¬ 
ioners  gathered  together  in  great  numbers,  with 
force  of  arms,  and  prevented  them  from  demol¬ 
ishing  their  church.  The  duke,  thus  disconcerted, 
fixes  his  eye  upon  a  beautiful  cloister,  built  round 
a  piece  of  ground  called  Pardon  Churchyard, 
with  a  chapel  in  the  midst  of  it,  together  with  a 
most  handsome  charnel  house  on  the  south  side 
of  the  church;  and  another  chapel  belonging  to 
the  same;  sets  his  workmen,  without  more  ado, 
to  pull  it  all  down;  converts  the  stone,  timber, 
lead  and  iron  to  the  use  of  his  intended  palace, 
and  leaves  the  bones  of  the  dead  to  be  buried  in 
Finsbury  Fields,  in  unhallowed  ground  l  But  all 
this  not  sufficing  to  complete  the  work,  the 
steeple  and  most  parts  of  the  church  of  St.  John 
of  Jerusalem  were  blown  up  with  gunpowder 
by  the  orders  of  the  duke.  Nor  would  all  this 
suffice:  Barking  Chapel  and  the  church  of  St. 
Ewens,'  as  also  the  parish  church  of  St.  Nicholas, 
were  pulled  down  for  more  materials  to  finish 
Ins  gorgeous  new  palace,  called  Somerset  House. 
About  the  same  time  the  Protestants  pulled  down 
the  college  church  of  St.  Martin’s,  sold  the  bells, 
lead,  stone,  timber,  glass  and  iron,  and  built  a 
tippling-liouse  in  lieu  of  it.*  So  great,  indeed, 
was  the  frenzy  of  our  first  Protestants,  that  they 
seemed  to  judge  everything  lawful.  King  llenry 


*  Dr.  Ileylin’a  Ilist.  Reform. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


29 


VIII.  played  a  game  at  dice  with  Sir  Miles  Par¬ 
tridge  for  the  line  ring  of  hells  in  Jesus’  Church. 
Miles  having  won  the  cast,  takes  and  melts  them 
down,  and  sells  the  metal  for  his  own  profit. 
And  so  closely  did  the  Protestant  gentry  pursue 
the  steps  of  old  Harry,  that  Bishop  Latimer  says 
they  invaded  the  profits  of  the  church,  leaving 
the  title  only  to  the  incumbent,  and  that  manv 
benefices  were  let  out  in  fee-farm,  or  given  to 
servants,  for  the  keeping  of  hounds,  hawks,  and 
horses,  and  for  making  gardens.  Finally,  that 
the  poor  clergy,  being  reduced  to  certain  miser¬ 
able  pittances,  were  forced  to  put  themselves 
into  gentlemen's  houses,  and  there  to  serve  as 
clerks  of  the  kitchen,  receivers,  etc.,  for  a  liveli¬ 
hood.*  In  the  midst  of  all  this  rapine,  away  go 
also  the  libraries,  which  Bale  laments  in  these 
words:  “  They  seized  upon  the  books,  some  to 
serve  their  jacks,  some  to  scour  their  candlesticks, 
and  some  to  rub  their  boots ;  some  they  s'old  to 
the  grocers  and  soap-sellers,  and  some  they  sent 
over  sea  to  the  book-binders ;  notin  small  num¬ 
bers,  but  at  times  whole  ships-full,  to  the  wonder¬ 
ing  of  foreign  nations.  I  know  a  merchant,” 
says  he,  “  that  bought  the  contents  of  two  noble 
libraries  for  forty  shillings  a-piece  —  a  shame 
it  is  to  be  spoken,  and  a  prodigious  example  to 
be  abhorred  of  all  men  who  love  their  nation  as 


*  Bishop  Latimer’s  printed  Serin.,  pp.  38,  71,  91,  114. 


30 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


they  should  do.”  After  all  this  scrambling  and 
tugging  for  the  treasures  of  the  church,  little  or 
nothing  was  left  but  the  bare  walls.  Next,  they 
go  and  fill  up  all  the  churches  with  parsons  of 
their  own  reform,  who,  as  soon  as  they  get  pos¬ 
session,  declare  that  they  must  have  the  tithes, 
since  it  was  a  general  maxim,  “  no  fee,  no  par¬ 
son.”  When  the  Catholic  priests  had  their  own 
churches,  these  tithes  were  divided  into  four 
parts.* 

The  first  part  was  given  to  support  the  bishop ; 
the  second  was  laid  out  on  the  repairs  of  the 
church,  and  all  the  expenses  that  attended  divine 
service;  the  third  part  was  to  relieve  the  poor  of 
the  parish,  and  the  fourth  part  was  for  the  priest. 
Before  the  Protestant  religion  began,  there  were 
no  overseers,  no  workhouses,  and  no  poor-rates. 
For  the  poor  were  entirely  supported  by  the  con¬ 
vents,  hospitals  and  tithes,  and  the  parish  priests 
servect  instead  of  overseers,  and  took  care  of  the 
poor.  But  as  soon  as  the  Protestants  had  got 
possession  of  the  churches,  the  lands  and  the 
tithes,  the  poor  were  everywhere  neglected,  and 
thousands  died  for  want  of  bread,  till  by  statute 
43  Eliz.  c.  2,  overseers  of  the  poor  were  ap¬ 
pointed  to  levy  rates  upon  the  inhabitants,  and 
to  take  care  of  the  poor,  since  the  parsons  had 
neglected  them.  But  here  let  us  see  the  great 


*  See  Blackstone’s  Com.,  vol.  i.,  p.  384. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


31 


charity,  mercy  and  compassion  of  the  first  Prot¬ 
estants  to  the  poor.  Before  the  parliament 
appointed  overseers,  the  poor,  who  formerly 
obtained  relief  at  the  gates  of  the  monasteries 
and  convents,  wandered  up  and  down  the  coun¬ 
try  in  quest  of  bread ;  but  a  statute  was  enacted, 
that  whoever  “  lived  idly  and  loitering  for  the 
space  of  three  days,  came  under  the  description 
of  a  vagabond,  and  was  liable  to  the  following 
punishment:  Two  justices  of  the  peace  might 
order  the  letter  V  to  be  burnt  on  his  breast,  and 
adjudge  him  to  serve  the  informer  two  years  as 
a  slave.  His  master  was  bound  to  provide  him 
with  bread  and  water,  and  refuse  meat ;  might 
fix  an  iron  ring  round  his  neck,  arm  or  leg ;  and 
was  authorized  to  compel  him  to  labor  at  any 
work,  however  vile  it  might  be,  by  beating, 
chaining,  or  otherwise.”  If  the  slave  left  his 
master  for  a  fortnight,  the  letter  S  was  burnt  on 
his  cheek  or  forehead;  he  became  a  slave  for 
life;  and  if  the  poor  man  ran  away  a  second 
time  he  was  guilty  of  felony,  and  suffered  death 
without  mercy.*  Again,  the  parsons  would  not 
keep  in  repair  the  churches,  nor  buy  the  bread 
and  wine,  or  even  pay  for  the  washing  of  their 
surplices ;  consequently,  churchwardens  were 
obliged  to  raise  levies  on  the  parish  to  pay  these 
burdens. 


*See  LingarcVs  Hist.  Eng.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  381. 


32 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIXD  OUT 


We  will  now  proceed  to  those  cruel  oppres¬ 
sions  and  persecutions  of  Protestants  towards 
Catholics,  which  have  conic  down  even  to  our 
own  times.  For  this  end,  more  than  a  hundred 
cruel  and  unjust  laws  were  made.  We  will  only 
examine  a  few.  Catholics  could  not  possess  the 
estates  of  their  fathers  or  relations,  nor  buy  land 
after  the  age  of  eighteen,  except  they  would  turn 
Protestants.  They  could  not  teach  nor  keep  a 
school,  under  pain  of  perpetual  imprisonment. 
The  Catholics  paid  double  taxes.  If  a  priest 
said  Mass  he  forfeited  200  marks,  or  1 33/.  6s.  8 d., 
and  if  a  person  heard  Mass  he  forfeited  100  marks, 
or  602.  13s.  4c2.,  and  each  suffered  one  year's  im¬ 
prisonment.  If  any  Catholic  sent  his  child  or 
any  other  person  out  of  England  to  be  educated 
in  the  Catholic  religion,  both  lie  and  his  child 
were  deprived  of  everything  but  their  lives;  for 
they  lost  all  their  goods  and  chattels,  and  like¬ 
wise  all  their  real  estate  for  life,  and  were  not 
allowed  to  be  employed  in  the  kingdom.  If  a 
Catholic  did  not  go  to  the  Protestant  Church,  on 
Sundays  and  holidays,  he  forfeited  twenty  pounds 
for  every  month  he  staid  away;  besides  which, 
he  was  looked  upon  as  excommunicated;  he 
could  hold  no  office  or  employment;  he  could 
not  keep  arms  in  his  house ;  lie  could  not  come 
within  ten  miles  of  London,  on  pain  of  forfeit¬ 
ing  1002. ;  he  could  bring  no  action  at  law;  he 
could  not  travel  above  five  miles  from  home, 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


33 


upon  pain  of  forfeiting  all  his  goods ;  he  could 
not  come  to  court,  under  pain  of  forfeiting  100Z. 
No  marriage  or  burial  of  such  a  Catholic,  or 
baptism  of  his  child,  was  lawful,  except  per¬ 
formed  by  the  parsons  of  the  Church  of  England. 
A  married  woman,  if  she  was  a  Catholic,  for¬ 
feited  two-thirds  of  her  dowry ;  she  could  not 
be  executrix  to  her  husband,  or  have  any  part 
of  his  goods;  and  during  their  marriage  she  was 
to  be  kept  in  prison,  unless  her  husband  redeemed 
her  at  the  rate  of  10Z.  a  month,  or  the  third  part 
of  all  his  lands ;  and  lastly,  all  Catholics  were  to 
be  imprisoned,  if  they  did  not  forsake  their  re¬ 
ligion  and  become  Protestants;  they  could  be 
transported  for  life  by  four  justices ;  and  if  they 
refused  to  go,  or  came  back  without  the  license 
of  the  king,  they  were  guilty  of  felony,  and  suf¬ 
fered  death  as  felons,  without  the  benefit  of 
clergy.  A  Catholic  gentleman  could  not  keep 
arms  in  his  house,  nor  ride  a  horse  above  the 
value  of  M.  Catholic  bishops  or  priests  cel¬ 
ebrating  Mass,  or  exercising  any  part  of  their 
functions,  were  liable  to  perpetual  imprison¬ 
ment.  And  by  statute  27  Eliz.  c.  2,  any  Catholic 
priest  born  in  the  dominion  of  the  Crown  of 
England,  and  who  should  stay  in  England  three 
days  without  becoming  a  Protestant,  was  guilty 
of  high  treason,  and  suffered  a  cruel  death;  and 
all  persons  harboring  him  were  guilty  of  felony, 
and  condemned  to  death  without  the  benefit  of 
3 


34 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


clergy.*  To  add  to  these  cruelties,  “  the  greatest 
violations  of  justice  were  committed  on  the  part 
of  the  judges,  with  whom  it  was  at  all  times  a 
sufficient  reason  for  giving  no  credit  to  a  witness, 
that  he  was  a  Catholic.”  f  In  consequence  of 
these  bloody  laws,  upwards  of  two  hundred 
persons  were  put  to  death  for  the  profession  of 
the  Catholic  faith,  during  the  reign  of  Queen 
Elizabeth.  Of  this  number,  one  hundred  and 
forty-two  were  priests,  three  were  gentlewomen, 
and  the  remainder  esquires,  gentlemen,  and  yeo¬ 
men.  Besides  these,  there  were  ninety  more 
priests  and  laymen  who  died  in  prison  in  the 
same  reign,  and  one  hundred  and  five  others 
who  were  transported  for  life.  Many  more  were 
whipped,  tilled,  or  stripped  of  their  property,  to 
the  utter  ruin  of  their  families.  In  one  night 
fifty  Catholic  gentlemen,  in  the  county  of  Lan¬ 
caster,  were  suddenly  seized  and  committed  to 
prison  because  they  would  not  go  to  the  Prot¬ 
estant  Church.  About  the  same  time  we  find 
fifty-three  Yorkshire  gentlemen  lying  prisoners 
in  York  Castle,  because  they  would  not  attend 
the  Protestant  Church;  these  Catholics  were 
dragged  by  main  force  into  the  castle  chapel,  and 
there  forcibly  kept  to  hear  Protestant  sermons, 
once  a  week  for  twelve  months  together. In 

*Sce  Blackstonc’s  Com.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  55. 

t  Goodwin  in  the  Lives  of  the  Philipses. 

+  See  Dr.  Milner’s  Let.  to  a  Prebcn.,  p.  131. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


35 


the  year  1587,  the  illustrious  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots,  and  cousin  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  was  put  to 
death  for  the  Catholic  faith.  A  Protestant  party, 
with  the  consent  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  cruelly 
murdered  Mary’s  husband,  King  Henry  Darnly,* 
and  then  raised  a  rebellion  against  her,  their 
lawful  queen.  The  defenceless  Queen  of  Scots, 
thus  insulted  and  betrayed  by  her  own  rebellious 
subjects,  hoped  to  find  a  friend  in  her  cousin 
Elizabeth.  For  “the  Queen  of  England  had 
given  her  a  strong  expectation  of  shelter  in  case 
of  distress,  and  had  presented  her  with  a  dia¬ 
mond  as  a  mark  of  her  affection.”  f  But  Mary 
was  a  Catholic ;  and  she  had  no  sooner  set  her 
foot  on  English  ground  than  the  treacherous 
Elizabeth,  contrary  to  all  justice,  commanded 
her  to  be  thrown  into  prison,  where  she  remained 
till  her  dying  day.  In  this  wretched  state  of 
confinement,  the  poor  queen  suffered  every  in¬ 
sult,  and,  over  and  above,  was  deprived  of  the 
exercise  of  her  own  religion.  After  living  eight¬ 
een  years  in  this  miserable  condition,  expecting 
every  day  to  be  her  last,  she  was  informed  by 
Lord  Buckhurst  that  she  was  condemned  to  die, 
and  that  “  the  established  religion  was  thought  not 
to  be  secure  whilst  she  was  in  being”  X  Mary, 
with  the  greatest  resignation,  answered,  “  I  had 

*See  Dr.  Milner’s  Let.  to  a  Preben.,  6  ed.,  p.  284. 

f  Collier’s  Eccl.  Hist.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  516. 

t  Camden. 


3G 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


not  thought  that  my  sister,  the  queen,  would 
have  consented  to  my  death,  who  am  not  subject 
to  your  laws.  But  since  it  is  her  pleasure,  death 
shall  be  to  me  most  welcome.”  *  She  then  begs 
to  see  a  Catholic  priest;  but  this  is  flatly  denied 
her.f  They  offer  her  the  Protestant  bishop  or 
dean  of  Peterborough;  but  them  she  refuses, 
expressing  her  determination  to  die  in  the  Cath¬ 
olic  faith.  After  having  joined  with  her  servants 
in  most  fervent  and  humble  prayer  to  God,  she 
then  takes  off  her  mantle,  amidst  the  shrieks  and 
lamentations  of  her  servants,  and,  throwing  a 
white  veil  over  her  face,  lays  herself  down  on 
the  block,  repeating  the  Psalm,  “  In  thee,  O 
Lord,  do  I  put  my  trust,”  etc.,  with  the  words, 
“  Into  thy  hands,  O  Lord,  I  commend  my 
spirit,”  and  the  executioner  severs  her  head  from 
her  body. 

“Here  let  the  reader  pause;  and  if  he  has  a 
heart  to  feel  for  injured  majesty,  let  him  not  be 
ashamed  to  drop  a  tributary  tear  to  the  memory 
of  Mary,  the  unjustly  dethroned,  and  not  less 
basely  murdered,  Queen  of  Scots.” 

Dr.  Bridgewater  gives  us  the  names  of  about 
twelve  hundred  Catholics  who  were  persecuted 
for  their  religion  before  the  year  15884  Besides 
these,  in  the  following  reigns  many  hundreds 

♦Echard.  llist.  Eng.,  p.  37S. 

t  Camden  An.  Eliz.,  p.  382. 

t  See  Concertatio  Eccles.  Cath.,  by  Dr.  Bridgewater. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


37 


more  suffered  death  and  other  cruelties  for  the 
Catholic  religion.  “  And  as  for  priests, — it  was 
made  as  great  a  crime  to  have  taken  orders  after 
the  rights  of  their  church,  as  to  have  committed 
the  most  heinous  treason  that  can  be  imagined ; 
and  they  were  far  more  cruelly  punished  than 
those  that  murdered  their  own  parents.”  *  Those 
that  suffered  death  were  drawn  to  the  gallows, 
hanged  by  the  neck,  and,  for  the  most  part,  cut 
down  alive,  their  bowels  torn  out  whilst  they 
were  yet  living,  and  burnt  before  their  faces; 
after  this,  their  heads  were  cut  off,  and  their 
bodies  divided  into  quarters. f  Incredible  as  it 
may  appear  to  an  Englishman,  still  it  is  true, 
that  several  of  those  who  suffered  this  cruel 
death,  as  well  as  many  more  who  escaped  death, 
were,  before  their  trials,  most  barbarously  tor¬ 
tured  by  the  common  rack,  by  which  their  limbs 
were  stretched  with  levers  to  a  length  too  shock¬ 
ing  to  mention ;  by  the  hoop,  called  the  Scaven¬ 
ger's  Daughter,  on  which  they  were  placed  and 
their  bodies  bent  until  the  head  and  the  feet  met 
together ;  by  confinement  in  the  chamber,  called 
Little  Ease,  being  a  hole  so  small  that  a  person 
could  neither  stand,  sit,  nor  lie  straight  in  it;  by 
the  iron  gauntlet,  a  screw  that  squeezes  the  hands 
until  the  bones  were  crushed;  or  by  needles 

*  Christian  Modera,  Part  I.,  p.  9,  etc. 

fSee  Dr.  Milner’s  Let.  Preb.,  p.  134.  Butler’s  Mem.,  vol.  i., 
p.  171. 


38 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


thrust  under  the  nails  of  the  sufferers ;  or  finally, 
bv  starvation  !  *  Even  the  reward  of  100J.  was 
given  to  any  person  who  should  discover  a  Cath¬ 
olic  priest,  and  bring  him  to  suffer  these  most 
diabolical  punishments.  Nor  were  these  atroc¬ 
ities  confined  merely  to  England ;  for  Elizabeth 
extended  them  to  even  Ireland,  where  she  per¬ 
secuted  many  innocent  Catholics,  merely  for  the 
profession  or  exercises  of  their  religion.  Amongst 
these  were  six  prelates  —  Patrick  O'Kelly,  Bish¬ 
op  of  Mayo,  Dermit  O’Hurle,  Archbishop  of 
Cashel,  Richard  Creagh,  Archbishop  of  Armagh, 
and  Edmund  Magauran,  his  successor,  Cornelius 
O’Duanne,  Bishop  of  Down,  and  Edmund  O'Gal- 
lagher,  Bishop  of  Derry.  The  first  two  of  these 
suffered  horrible  torture  previously  to  their  exe¬ 
cution —  the  former  having  his  legs  broken  with 
hammers,  and  needles  thrust  under  his  finger¬ 
nails;  the  other  being  obliged  to  wear  for  several 
days  jack-boots,  containing  a  quantity  of  quick¬ 
lime  and  oil.  It  was  not  unusual  to  tear  the 
nails  from  the  fingers  of  the  Catholic  prisoners, 
or  to  batter  the  heads  of  the  clergy  with  sticks 
and  stones  till  their  brains  were  open  to  view. 
The  year  before  Elizabeth's  death,  a  number  of 
monks  and  clergy,  amounting  in  all  to  fifty-one 
persons,  obtained  permission,  in  consequence  of 
a  petition  to  her,  which  they  got  presented,  to 

*Dr.  Milner’s  Let.  Preb.,  p.  134,  in  note,  and  Butler’s  Mem., 
vol.  1,  p.  115,  etc. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


39 


retire  to  the  continent ;  and  a  queen’s  ship  was 
appointed  to  convey  them.  They  embarked,  as 
they  were  ordered,  at  Slattery;  but  had  not 
sailed  far,  when  they  were  all  thrown  into  the 
sea  and  drowned.  This  glorious  exploit  was 
performed  by  the  orders  of  the  godly  Queen 
Elizabeth,  who  gave  to  these  officers,  as  a  reward, 
the  lands  which  had  belonged  to  the  aforesaid 
monks.*  Moreover,  large  armies  of  soldiers 
were  sent  over  to  Ireland  to  make  the  Catholics 
turn  Protestants.  They  began  by  burning  the 
Catholic  chapels,  murdering  the  priests  at  the 
altar,  and  hunting  them  like  wild  beasts.  “  They 
scarce  ever  gave  quarter;  and  when  they  did, 
it  was  in  order  to  satiate  their  revenge.  They 
massacred  their  prisoners  in  cold  blood,  as  rebels 
and  idolaters.  Treaties,  capitulations,  the  laws 
of  nations,  the  rights  of  war,  were  of  no  avail. 
They  butchered  the  garrison  of  Smervie,  the 
troops  of  a  foreign  power,  after  a  formal  capit¬ 
ulation ,  and  they  set  tire  to  the  towns  and  vil¬ 
lages  ;  they  destroyed  the  corn  and  cattle,  and 
forced  the  inhabitants,  without  distinction  of  sex 
or  age,  to  feed  on  docks  and  nettles.  Morrison, 
an  eye-witness,  mentions  that  no  spectacle  was 
more  frequent  than  multitudes  of  those  victims 
of  human  cruelty  lying  unburied  in  the  fields, 
exhibiting  in  their  ghastly  visages  the  color  of 


*  See  note,  p.  32,  in  Dr.  Milner’s  Let.  from  Ireland. 


40 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


the  weeds  on  which  they  fed,  and  that  children 

were  seen  feeding  on  the  dead  bodies  of  their 
mothers.'''  * 

But,  to  return  to  the  sufferings  of  the  Catholics 
in  England,  in  the  years  1643  and  1644,  the  par¬ 
liament  sent  ont  commissioners,  with  orders  to 
seize  two-thirds  of  the  real  and  personal  estates 
of  all  the  Catholics,  without  distinction.  The 
commissioners  employed  people  under  them, 
with  power  to  break  into  houses,  and  to  force 
open  locks;  and  they  gave  to  informers  who 
could  tell  where  the  Catholics  had  their  property, 
one  shilling  in  the  pound. f  They  even  took 
from  the  poor  day  laborers  two-thirds  of  their 
goods;  and  if  a  man  had  but  three  cows,  they 
took  two  of  them.  When  the  commissioners 
had  got  into  their  hands  two-thirds  of  the  most 
innocent  Catholics’  lands  and  goods,  “then  came 
the  excisemen,  tax-gatherers,  and  other  collectors, 
and  filched  away  no  small  part  of  the  poor  third 
penny  that  was  left  them;  so  that,  after  these 
deductions,  I  have  known  some  estates  of  300/.  a 
year,  reduced  to  less  than  60/.  f  Again,  on  July 
16,  1651,  and  August  4,  1652,  and  November  18, 
new  acts  of  parliament  were  made,  by  which 
they  seized  upon  more  than  one  hundred  estates 
belonging  to  the  Catholic  nobility.  Another 

♦Catholic  Miscellany,  vol.  i.,  p.  233. 

t  Butler’s  Mem.,  vol.  i.,  p.  21. 

|  Christian  Modera.,  Part  I.,  p.  9,  etc. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


41 


grievance  was,  that  the  Catholics  had  no  power 
to  sell  or  mortgage  the  least  part  of  their  estates 
in  order  to  pay  their  just  debts,  to  defray  their 
necessary  expenses,  or  to  buy  food  for  their  chil¬ 
dren.  This  was  a  most  cruel  injustice,  because 
they  could  not  be  employed  in  the  kingdom,  and 
if  they  wished  to  go  to  another  country  where 
they,  might  gain  a  livelihood  for  their  families, 
they  could  not  sell  or  exchange  their  estates  for 
money  to  pay  their  passage.  Moreover,  many 
plots  have  been  hatched  by  Protestants,  and  then 
laid  upon  Catholics ;  for  instance,  Mocedo's  plot , 
Oates’s  plot ,  Gunpowder  plot,  etc.  This  last,  the 
memory  of  which  is  still  kept  up  by  making 
bonfires,  ringing  the  bells,  etc.,  on  the  fifth  of 
November,  was  a  Protestant  plot,  planned  by 
the  Protestant  minister  Cecil,  and  discovered  by 
a  Catholic  peer,  Lord  Montagle.  But  perhaps 
you  will  ask,  why  should  a  Protestant  minister 
form  the  gunpowder  plot?  It  was  because  the 
Protestants  at  that  time  were  afraid  that  the 
king  was  going  to  favor  the  Catholics.  For 
you  must  know  that  King  James  I.  was  born  of 
Catholic  parents,  was  baptized  and  confirmed  in 
the  Catholic  Church,  and,  though  he  was  com¬ 
pelled  to  forsake  his  religion  by  the  new  laws  of 
Scotland,  he,  nevertheless,  retained  at  first  a 
great  regard  for  the  Catholic  faith;  and  he  de¬ 
clared  in  open  parliament,  that  he  considered  the 


42 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


Church  of  Rome  as  the  “  Mother  Church.”  * * * § 
Even  in  his  writings,  he  calls  u  the  Pope  the 
chief  Bishop  of  all  the  western  churches.”  f 
Moreover,  the  king  looked  upon  his  Catholic 
subjects  of  England  as  a  loyal  body  of  people, 
who  had  been  long  oppressed  and  most  heavily 
afflicted.  He  made  no  secret  of  his  friendly  dis¬ 
position  towards  them ;  and  this  it  was  that  gave 
offence  to  the  ministers,  and  set  Cecil  to  work  to 
find  out  ways  to  make  the  king  hate  his  Catholic 
subjects ;  which  he  soon  accomplished  by  means 
of  the  famous  gunpowder  plot,  of  “  which  he  was 
either  himself  the  author,  or  at  least  the  main 
•  conductor.”  %  However,  “  Cecil  did  not  carry 
on  his  schemes  so  secretly,  but  that  some  of  his 
own  domestics  got  a  general  notion  of  them. 
Accordingly,  one  of  them  advised  a  Catholic 
friend  of  his  of  the  name  of  Buck  to  be  upon  his 
guard,  as  some  great  mischief  was  in  forge 
against  those  of  his  religion.  This  was  said  two 
months  before  the  disclosure  of  this  gunpowder 
plot .”  §  Again,  many  Protestant  writers  allow 
that  Cecil  was  the  principal  contriver  of  the 
plot.  One  of  them  calls  it  “  a  neat  device  of  the 
secretary.”  ||  Another  says,  that  “  Cecil  engaged 


*Dr.  B.  Carier’s  Missirs. 

fDr.  Milner’s  Let.  to  a  Preb.,  6  ed.,  p.  268. 

X  Politician’s  Catech. 

§  Osborne’s  Hist.  Mem.  of  James  I. 

II  The  Author  of  the  Political  Grammar. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


43 


some  Papists  in  this  desperate  plot,  in  order  to 
divert  the  king  from  making  any  advances 
towards  Popery,  to  which  he  seemed  inclinable, 
in  the  minister’s  opinion.”*  King  James  him¬ 
self  used  to  call  the  fifth  of  November  “  Cecil’s 
Holiday.”  Finally,  a  third  Protestant  writer 
says,  “  that  this  design  was  first  hammered  in 
the  forge  of  Cecil,  who  intended  to  have  pro¬ 
duced  it  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth;  that  by  his 
secret  emissaries  he  enticed  some  hot-headed 
men,  who,  ignorant  whence  the  design  first 
came,  heartily  engaged  in  it.”  f  Thus  you  see 
that  this  famous  plot  was  first  of  all  made  by  a 
Protestant;  and  besides,  those  who  were  deeply 
engaged  in  it  were  by  no  means  Catholics.  For, 
out  of  the  sixteen  persons  who  were  all  that  the 
Protestants  could  accuse,  only  nine  at  the  most 
knew  that  any  gunpowder  plot  was  intended;  and 
the  greater  part  of  these  were  rash  youths,  who 
for  a  long  time  had  conformed  to  the  Protestant 
religion,  and  were  looked  upon  as  apostates  and 
outcasts  from  the  Catholic  communion.  This  a 
Protestant  writer  assures  us  of,  where  he  says : 
“  There  were  a  few  wicked  and  _  jdes^erate 
wretches,  whom  many  Protestants  Pa¬ 

pists,  although  the  priests  and  true  Catholics 
knew  them  not  to  be  such ;  nor  can  any  Prot¬ 
estant  say  that  any  one  of  them  was  such  as  the 

*  See  Stowe  and  Echard. 

t  Short  view  of  Hist.  Eng.,  by  Bev.  Higgons. 


44 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


law  terms  Popish  recusants ;  and  if  any  of  them 
were  Catholics,  or  so  died,  they  were  known 
Protestants  not  long  before.”  *  This  is  a  short 
history  of  this  famous  plot  contrived  by  Prot¬ 
estants  for  the  ruin  of  Catholics.  What  a  shame 
then  and  mockery  it  is,  that  every  parson  on  the 
fifth  of  November  should  go  to  church  and  thank 
God  for  his  deliverance  “  from  the  secret  con¬ 
trivance  and  hellish  malice  of  Popish  conspir¬ 
ators!”!  Their  effrontery  is  most  astonishing 
indeed.  Moreover,  we  read  in  history,  that  so 
great  was  the  malice  of  Protestants  against  their 
Catholic  fellow-subjects,  that  “  they  voted  that 
in  case  of  the  king’s  death  by  the  hands  of  con¬ 
spirators  they  should  be  accused  as  the  perpetra¬ 
tors  of  the  murder.”  “  Protestants  were  to  kill 
the  king,  and  Papists  were  to  be  hanged  for 
it!”f 

Such  were  the  plots,  cruelties,  and  persecu¬ 
tions,  exercised  with  more  or  less  barbarity, 
against  the  Catholics,  because  they  would  not 
turn  Protestants  —  during  the  reigns  of  Eliza¬ 
beth,  James  I.,  Charles  I.,  Cromwell,  Charles  II., 
James  II.,  William,  Anne,  George  I.,  George  II., 
and  down  to  the  18th  year  of  George  III.  —  per¬ 
secutions  which  continued  till  about  fifty-two 
years  ago;  for  in  17G9,  the  Hon.  James  Talbot, 

*  Prot.  Plea  for  Priests,  pp.  56,  58,  Ann.  1621. 

f  In  last  Prayer  of  Thanksgiving,  5th  Nov.,  Book  Com.  Prayer. 

J  L’Estrange  His.,  p.  156. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


45 


uncle  to  the  present  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  was 
tried  for  his  life  at  the  Old  Bailey,  for  saying 
Mass;  and  escaped  condemnation  only  from  the 
want  of  evidence.  Other  priests  were  prosecuted, 
and  some  imprisoned  for  life.  In  1778,  the  first 
indulgence  shown  to  Catholics  in  his  late  Maj¬ 
esty's  reign,  was  the  repeal  of  the  act  of  the  lOtli 
and  12th  of  William  .  This  act  of  justice  towards 
them  very  much  disobliged  our  Protestant  breth¬ 
ren,  who,  on  the  2d  of  June,  1780,  presented  a 
petition  to  the  House  of  Commons,  containing 
44,000  names,  begging  that  the  Parliament  would 
continue  these  cruel  and  bloody  laws  against  the 
Catholics ;  but,  as  their  petition  was  not  attended 
to  by  the  House,  they  were  determined  to  see 
what  they  could  do  by  force ;  and  then  it  was 
that  the  famous  London  riots  broke  out,  in  which 
100,000  Protestants  marched  about  the  streets 
with  No  Popery  flags  flying,  set  fire  to  the  Cath¬ 
olic  chapels,  demolished  their  houses,  and  at 
night,  it  is  said,  that  the  city  was  seen  blazing 
in  thirty-six  different  parts  from  one  spot.  After 
these  dreadful  riots,  which  lasted  six  days,  and 
many  other  evils  that  befell  the  Catholics,  his  late 
Majesty  passed  another  act  in  1791,  for  the  relief 
of  his  Catholic  subjects,  and  gave  them  all  those 
privileges  which  they  now  enjoy,  and  for  which 
they  were  and  ever  will  be  grateful  to  their  de¬ 
ceased  friend  and  Sovereign. 


46 


A  SURE  AY  AY  TO  FIND  OUT 


Q.  And  are  these  the  fruits  of  the  Protestant 
religion  ?  Admirable  fruits  indeed ! 

A.  Yes:  but  this  is  not  all.  They  spoiled  the 
good  fruits  they  found,  and  they  brought  in 
many  bad  ones.  For  example,  Avakes  AYere  for¬ 
merly  festivals  of  the  dedication  of  the  parish 
churches  kept  by  the  Catholics  in  devotion  and 
penance.  But  every  one  knoAVS  that  these  times 
are  now  turned  into  riot,  debauchery,  profaneness, 
drunkenness,  and  everything  that  is  bad.  More- 
over  the  festivals  of  Christmas,  Easter,  and  Whit¬ 
suntide,  etc.,  Avhicli  Catholics  are  taught  to  keep 
holy,  have  been  kept  up  indeed  by  the  Protes¬ 
tants,  but  in  a  ATcry  different  manner  from  what 
they  ought  to  be.  They  are  uoav  nothing  but 
times  of  idleness,  cursing,  swearing,  lighting, 
drunkenness,  etc. ,  and  here  let  me  observe,  that 
this  detestable  vice  of  drunkenness  has  so  much 
increased  with  the  Protestant  religion,  that  War¬ 
ner  says,  “  that  in  1688,  there  Avere  more  ale¬ 
houses  in  London  alone  than  in  any  ten  Catholic 
towns  in  Europe,  and  probably  more  than  served 
the  whole  kingdom  in  Catholic  times.”  * 

Protestant  writers  themselves  have  often  owned 
that  the  practice  of  confession  was  a  good  thing, 
by  keeping  men  from  evil  and  preventing  crimes. 
And  Dr.  Beattie  remarks,  “  that  people  Avere 
hardly  ever  known  to  lay  violent  hands  on  tliein- 


*  A  Defence  of  the  Doctrine,  etc.,  p.  290. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


47 


selves,  when  confession  was  practised.”  But 
this  good  practice  Protestants  have  done  away 
with;  and  accordingly,  every  day’s  newspaper 
gives  account  of  people  shooting,  hanging, 
and  drowning  themselves.  “  In  the  city  and 
liberty  of  Westminster,  within  these  last  ten 
years,  there  have  been  no  less  than  two  hundred 
and  twenty-six  suicides.”  *  Again,  you  perhaps 
never  heard  of  the  Protestant  charter  school  in 
Ireland.  It  is  a  fact,  that  every  year  no  less  than 
25,000/.  and  the  rents  of  several  large  estates  are 
spent  by  the  Protestant  government,  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  buying  up  poor  Catholic  children,  who 
are  separated  from  their  parents,  and  carried  in 
covered  wagons  from  one  end  of  the  kingdom  to 
the  other,  in  order  that  they  may  never  see  them 
any  more,  and  be  brought  up  in  the  Protestant 
religion !  This  abominable  practice  tends  to  the 
violation  of  the  laws  of  God  and  of  nature:  it 
breaks  the  ties  of  affection  between  parents  and 
their  children;  and  it  may  often  happen,  that 
these  unfortunate  children,  when  they  are  grown 
up,  go  back  to  their  own  native  place,  and  marry 
their  brothers  and  sisters,  or  even  their  own  pa¬ 
rents,  without  knowing  it! 

But  not  only  has  the  Protestant  religion 
caused  these  crimes  and  oppressions;  it  has, 
moreover,  made  the  people  extremely  wicked. 


*  Litchfield  Chron.,  Nov.  22d,  1721. 


48 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


What  a  wicked  tiling-  it  is,  for  instance,  to  swear 
away  a  man’s  life  by  a  false  oath.  And  yet  it  is 
stated  in  the  Times  paper  of  the  third  of  April, 
1810,  that  Mr.  J.  Smith  said,  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  that  at  Guildhall  “perjury  was  re¬ 
duced  to  such  a  system  that  no  honest  man  could 
think  of  it  without  shuddering.”  Besides  false 
swearing,  crimes  of  every  other  description  have 
increased  thick  and  threefold.  Only  look  into 
our  prisons,  and  sec  the  miserable  wretches  of 
whom  they  are  full.  Consult  the  following  lists 
of  the  commitments  for  trial  in  the  short  space 
of  thirteen  years :  — 


Criminals.  Criminals. 

In  1805  .  4605  In  1S12  .  6576 

1806  4346  1813  7164 

1807  4446  1814  7390 

1808  4735  1S15 . 7818 

1809  5330  1816  9091 

1810  5146  1817  13932 

1811  .  5337  - 

Total .  85910 


“  It  is  a  sorrowful  truth,  that  in  London  alone 
there  arc  at  present  supposed  to  be  upwards  of 
three  thousand  receivers  of  stolen  goods,  who 
keep  open  shops  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing 
at  under  price,  often  for  a  mere  trifle,  every  kind 
of  property  brought  to  them,  from  a  nail  or  a 
glass  bottle  up  to  the  most  valuable  article, 
either  new  or  old;  and  this  without  asking  a 
question.  The  supposed  amount  of  the  different 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


49 


robberies  committed  in  London  and  its  environs, 
in  the  course  of  a  year,  is  estimated  at  2,000,000 1  ”* * * § 
“  There  is  not  in  any  country  in  Europe  one-six¬ 
teenth  part  of  the  petty  larceny  (i.  e.  thieving) 
that  is  committed  in  London  alone.”  f  These 
'  are  the  lamentable  fruits  of  the  Protestant  relig¬ 
ion,  which  we  see  in  these  our  days;  and  such 
have  they  been  all  along,  ever  since  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  thp  reformation ;  for,  that  the  Protestant 
religion  has  always  made  men  wicked  from  its 
very  first  commencement,  we  can  prove  from 
Protestant  writers  themselves.  Luther  says, 
“  It  is  a  wonderful  thing,  and  full  of  scandal, 
that  from  the  time  when  the  pure  doctrine  was 
first  called  to  light,  the  world  should  daily  grow 
worse  and  worse.”  X  Calvin  writes:  “Of  so 
many  thousands  seemingly  eager  in  embracing 
the  gospel,  how  few  have  since  amended  their 
lives?  Nay,  to  what  else  does  the  greater  part 
pretend,  except  by  shaking  off  the  yoke  of  super¬ 
stition,  to  launch  out  more  freely  into  every  kind 
of  wickedness.” §  Erasmus  says,  “Take  notice 
of  this  evangelical  people,  and  show  me  one  in¬ 
dividual  amongst  them  all,  who,  from  being  a 
drunkard  has  become  sober,  from  being  a  liber¬ 
tine  has  become  chaste.  I,  on  the  other  hand, 


*  Reflect,  on  Communities,  p.  86. 

|Xew  Monthly  Mag.,  January,  1822. 

JLuth.  in  Berm.  Conviv. 

§  Calv.  S.  0.  De  Scand. 


4 


50 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


can  show  you  many  who  have  become  worse  by 
the  change.”  * * * §  “  I  am  sure,”  says  Henry  VIII., 
“  that  charity  was  never  so  faint  amongst  you, 
and  virtuous  and  godly  living  was  never  less 
used,  nor  God  Himself,  amongst  Christians,  was 
never  less  reverenced,  honored,  or  served.”  f ' 
The  Protestant  Bishop  Burnet  sa)rs,  “  that  under 
Edward  VI.  the  sins  of  England  did  at  that  time 
call  down  heavy  curses  on  the  land:”  $  “  For 
lechery  is  used  in  England,  and  such  lechery  as 
is  used  in  no  other  part  of  the  world.  And  it  is 
made  a  matter  of  sport,  a  trifle  not  to  be  re¬ 
formed.”  §  Strype,  a  Protestant  parson,  gives 
us  a  history  of  the  dreadful  wickedness  that 
spread  over  all  the  nation  after  the  Protestant 
religion  began.  The  whole  account  is  too  long 
to  be  given  here ;  I  shall  mention  only  the  heads: 

“  The  covetousness  of  the  nobility  and  gentry ; 
the  oppression  of  the  poor ;  no  redress  at  lawT ; 
the  judges  ready  to  barter  justice  for  money ;  im¬ 
punity  of  murders;  the  clergy  very  bad,  from  the 
bishops  to  the  curates ;  and  above  all,  the  increase 
of  adulteries  and  w  horedoms.”  ||  “  And  so  rag¬ 

ing  is  this  abominable  vice,  at  the  present  day, 
that  in  London  alone  there  are  at  least  fifty  thous- 


*  Erasm.  Spong.  advers.  Hutten.  a.d.  1592. 

f  Stow’s  Annals,  a.d.  1546. 

t  Burnet’s  Ilist.  Ref.  Eng.  Part  2,  p.  226. 

§  Ileylin’s  Hist.  Ref.  Edwd.  6.  An.  1550. 

||  Strype’s  Mem.  Eccles.,  Book  2,  c.  23. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


51 


and  prostitutes,  and  so  nearly  in  equal  propor¬ 
tion  all  over  the  country.”  *  “  The  world  grows 

every  day  worse  and  worse ;  it  is  plain  that  men 
are  more  covetous,  more  cruel,  more  disorderly, 
more  insolent,  and  much  more  wicked  than  they 
were  at  the  time  of  Popery.”  f 

Q.  ¥e  have  here  fruits  enough  of  the  Protes¬ 
tant  religion;  and  they  are  very  had;  are  the 
fruits  of  the  Catholic  religion  no  better? 

A.  I  answer  in  the  affirmative:  for  before  the 
coming  of  our  divine  Saviour,  the  greater  part 
of  mankind  had,  through  their  own  wickedness 
and  superstition,  lost  the  knowledge  of  the  true 
God,  by  changing  the  glory  of  the  incorruptible  God 
into  the  likeness  of  the  image  of  a  corruptible  man , 
and  of  birds ,  and  of  four-footed  beasts,  and  of 
creeping  things,  Pom.  i.  23.  Besides  worshipping 
beasts  and  animals  of  every  description,  they  wor¬ 
shipped  plants,  wood  and  trees,  and  they  made 
themselves  idols,  and  worshipped  them,  and  of¬ 
fered  most  horrible  sacrifices  to  them.  For,  as 
Tacitus  tells  us,  they  made  their  altars  flow  with 
the  blood  of  the  prisoners  whom  they  took  in 
war;  and  if  they  wished  to  know  what  would 
come  to  pass  hereafter,  they  took  a  man,  and 
having  run  him  through  with  a  sword,  they  fore¬ 
told  what  would  happen  by  taking  notice  in  what 
manner  he  fell  to  the  ground ;  by  tearing  the  flesh 

*  Reflect,  on  Communities,  p.  So. 

fLuth.  Serm.  in  Post.  Dom.,  2  Adv. 


52 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


oil  his  bones,  and  by  the  flowing  of  his  blood. 
They  likewise  built  up  an  enormous  large  figure 
of  basket-work  and  straw;  this  they  filled  with 
a  great  number  of  living  men,*  as  likewise  with 
beasts  of  every  kind,  f  and  a  sufficient  quantity 
of  fuel;  they  then  set  fire  to  the  whole;  the  rag¬ 
ing  flames  of  which,  together  with  the  mingled 
shrieks  of  the  tortured  men,  the  bowlings  of  the 
enraged  beasts,  the  shouts  of  the  Druids,  and 
the  sounding  of  their  trumpets,  were  dreadful, 
and  naturally  put  us  in  mind  of  the  regions  of 
hell;  and  to  complete  their  diabolical  rites,  they 
went  and  tasted  the  scorched  flesh  of  the  men 
whom  they  had  just  sacrificed.^  Lastly,  they 
had  another  most  horrible  custom  of  burning, 
with  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  whatever  had  been 
most  necessary  and  dear  to  them ;  not  only  their 
clothes  and  armor,  their  dogs  and  horses,  but 
also  their  servants  and  dependants.  §  These  de¬ 
testable  rites  were  carried  on  in  England  for 
many  hundred  years,  and  no  other  than  the 
Catholic  religion  has  the  honor  of  banishing  this 
infernal  idolatry  from  the  face  of  the  earth;  it 
was  she  that  broke  down  the  dreadful  Crom¬ 
lechs,  or  huge  stones  which  had  so  often  smoked 
with  the  blood  of  human  victims  offered  in  sac¬ 
rifice;  she  that  dashed  in  pieces  the  idols  them¬ 
selves,  and  changed  their  temples  of  wickedness 


*  Cues.  L.  G. 
t  Pliny,  I.,  3,  c.  1. 


t  Strabo,  L.  4,  cxvers.  Lat. 
§  Cubs.  L.  6. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


53 


into  churches  tilled  with  the  praise  and  adoration 
of  the  true  God.  Through  the  Catholic  religion, 
the  world  came  again  to  the  knowledge  of  its 
author,  and  God  was  restored  to  Ilis  rights.  The 
worship  of  God  was  everywhere  established,  and 
in  every  place  of  the  world  he  had  true  believers 
who  adored  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  Arno- 
bius  says,  “Is  not  this  an  argument  for  our  faith, 
that  in  so  little  a  space  of  time  the  sacraments  of 
Christ’s  great  name  are  diffused  over  the  world ; 
that  there  is  no  nation  so  barbarous  and  cruel 
that  has  not  laid  aside  its  rudeness,  and  become 
meek  and  tractable ;  that  orators,  grammarians, 
rhetoricians,  lawyers,  physicians  and  philoso¬ 
phers,  men  of  great  genius,  love  our  religion, 
despising  those  things  wherein  they  before  trust¬ 
ed  ;  that  servants  will  rather  suffer  torments  from 
their  masters,  wives  sooner  part  with  their  hus¬ 
bands,  and  children  choose  to  be  disinherited  by 
their  parents,  than  abandon  the  Catholic  faith  * 
So  great  was  the  change  which  the  Catholic 
religion  made  even  in  Great  Britain,  that  Collier 
says,  “  Everything  brightened,  as  if  nature  had 
been  melted  down  and  re-coined.”  f  It  changed 
the  people  that  were  rude,  salvage,  barbarous, 
and  wicked,  into  a  nation  mild,  kind,  benevolent, 
and  holy,  teaching  men  to  do  in  all  things  as 
they  would  be  done  by.  And,  so  much  did  men 

*  Avers.  Gentcs,  L.  1,  p.  53. 

f  Pref.  to  Eccl.  Hist. 


54 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


live  up  to  this  grand  rule,  that  in  those  days, 
when  England  was  Catholic,  “  a  boy  or  girl 
might  openly  carry  a  bag  of  gold  or  silver,  and 
carry  it  safely  all  the  country  over;  *  and  golden 
bracelets  were  hung  up  near  the  highways,  which 
no  man  dared  to  touch.”  f  Then  they  did  not 
build  so  many  frightful  jails  and  gibbets  to  dis¬ 
grace  the  land;  but  beautiful  convents  and  mon¬ 
asteries,  where  the  humble  penitents,  who,  for¬ 
gotten  by  this  world,  and  forgetting  it  in  their 
turn,  employed  all  their  time  in  fitting  themselves 
for  a  better.  Again,  it  was  the  Catholic  religion 
that  erected  all  the  fine  old  churches  and  cathe¬ 
drals  in  England ;  all  the  best  colleges  at  Oxford 
and  Cambridge,  and  grand  libraries  for  the  edu¬ 
cation  of  youth;  charity-schools  for  the  poor; 
asylums  for  the  blind,  the  lame,  the  sick  and 
incurable ;  establishing  not  only  funds  for  their 
support,  but  providing  a  number  of  persons  to 
take  care  of  them ;  almshouses  for  the  widows 
and  fatherless.  Finally,  it  is  the  Catholic  relig¬ 
ion  that  has  done  all  these  things,  and,  moreover, 
has  sent  all  the  saints  to  heaven,  even  those 
whose  names  are  mentioned  in  the  book  of  Com¬ 
mon  Prayer;  for  they  all  lived  and  died  strict 
members  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church ;  and  to 
conclude,  she  alone  has  brought  down  to  our 
times  the  pure  word  of  God,  the  Bible ;  for  if  it 

*  Baker’s  Chron.,  p.  9. 

|M.  U.  Young’s  Hist.,  p.  62. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


55 


had  not  been  for  the  Catholic  religion,  whence 
would  the  Protestants  have  received  the  Bible? 

Q.  You  said  that  all  the  saints  who  are  gone 
to  heaven  lived  and  died  Roman  Catholics. 
Pray,  does  not  Fox’s  Book  of  Saints  and  Martyrs 
show  that  there  are  many  Protestant  saints  as 
well  as  Catholic? 

A.  Fox’s  Book  of  Saints  and  Martyrs  is  full 
of  lies ;  for  there  is  scarcely  one  whole  story  in 
that  huge  volume  but  what  is  falsified  and  per¬ 
verted,  one  way  or  the  other.”  * * * §  There  were 
found  on  two  leaves  of  Fox’s  book  one  hundred 
and  twenty  lies ;  f  and  “F.  Parsons,  who  had 
examined  Fox’s  writings  thoroughly,  declares 
that,  to  speak  modestly,  there  were  in  them  at 
least  ten  thousand  notorious  lies.”J  Anthony 
"Wood,  a  Protestant  writer,  says,  u  that  Fox  has 
committed  many  errors  in  making  such  martyrs 
who  were  living.”  §  See  the  remarkable  story 
of  one  Grimwood,  who  was  actually  present  in 
a  church,  whom  the  parson  was  describing  on 
the  authority  of  Fox’s  Acts  and  Monuments, 
p.  2100,  the  circumstance  of  Grimwood’s  miser¬ 
able  death;  he  said  that  “  Grimwood’s  bowels, 
by  the  judgment  of  God,  fell  out  of  his  body.” 


*Rel.  of  Trial  between  the  Bishop  of  Evreux  and  L.  Plesis 
Morney,  p.  59,  by  N.  I). 

fSee  the  same,  p.  60. 

JEng.  Con.  and  Ref.  comp.,  p.  110. 

§  Athen.  Oxon. 


56 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


Upon  hearing  this,  Grimwood,  falling  in  a 
fury,  went  and  brought  an  action  against  the 
parson  for  defamation.*  Other  instances  of 
gross  error  in  this  godly  book  of  martyrs  are  dis¬ 
covered  by  Collier  and  Alanus  Copus.  Fox 
says,  that  on  the  day  of  Ili die y  and  Latimer’s 
execution  at  Oxford,  Gardner  put  olF  his  dinner 
until  he  had  received  an  account  of  that  tragical 
event;  that  the  old  Duke  of  Norfolk,  who  was 
going  to  dine  with  Gardner,  was  very  uneasy  for 
want  of  his  dinner;  and  that  as  soon  as  Gardner 
heard  the  news  of  their  deaths,  he  was  trans¬ 
ported  with  joy;  sat  down  to  table,  where  lie 
was  seized  with  a  dvsury,  and,  being  carried  to 
bed,  died  in  great  torment  a  fortnight  after.  The 
falsehood  of  this  tale  is  shown  by  Collier;  for 
Latimer  and  Ridley  suffered  October  1G,  and,  on 
October  21,  Gardner  opened  the  parliament, 
which  he  afterwards  attended  a  second  time. 
The  old  Duke  of  Norfolk  had  been  dead  a  year 
before  this  great  event;  and  Gardner  himself 
died  November  21,  not  of  a  dysury,  but  of  the 
gout ! !  f  However,  for  your  greater  satisfaction, 
I  will  just  run  over  the  first  six  months  of  Fox’s 
calendar,  and  give  you  the  true  character  of  a 
few  of  these  Protestant  saints  and  martyrs. 

January  2.  —  John  Wickliffc,  martyr.  This 
Wickliffe  was  never  put  to  death,  nor  yet  so 


*  Athen.  Oxon.  Hen.  Morgan. 
•fEcc.  Hist.,  p.  3S6. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


57 


much  as  imprisoned  for  his  heresy,  hut  died  in 
his  bed  at  Lutterworth,  in  Leicestershire. 

Jan.  5. —  William  Swinderby,  martyr,  in  1400. 
Though  Fox  himself  says,  that  in  1401,  twelye 
months  afterwards,  no  great  harm  was  done 
unto  him,  nor  does  he  eyen  know  what  became 
of  him.* 

Jan.  7.  —  Sir  Roger  Acton,  martyr.  He  plotted 
against  the  life  of  King  Henry  V.,  was  taken  in 
open  rebellion  in  St.  Giles,  and  hanged  for  trea¬ 
son,  not  as  Fox  says,  on  the  seventh  of  January, 
1401,  but  thirteen  years  afterwards,  on  February 
10,  1414. f 

Jan.  8.  —  John  Brown,  martyr.  He  was  one 
of  the  same  rebels,  and  hanged  for  the  same 
crime. 

Jan.  9 . — John  Beverly,  martyr.  He  was  hanged 
for  stirring  up  these  rebels  to  kill  the  king. 

Jan.  10.  —  Richard  Silbeck,  martyr.  He  also 
was  hanged  for  being  concerned  in  the  same  re¬ 
bellion. 

Jan.  12.  —  Thomas  Whittle,  martyr,  1525.  Whit¬ 
tle  did  not  die  till  thirty-one  years  afterwards,  in 
1556,  and  then  the  devil  appeared  to  him  in 
prison  before  his  death. 

Jan.  13.  —  Bartlett  Green,  martyr.  He  was 
guilty  of  a  conspiracy  against  Queen  Mary. 

*Fox,  p.  428,  col.  2,  n.  44. 
t  See  Stow  and  Holingshed. 


58 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


February  3.  —  John  Claidon,  martyr.  lie  was 
executed  for  open  rebellion. 

Feb.  4.  —  Richard  Turmyn,  martyr.  Fox  says 
in  a  part  of  his  work,  that  he  does  not  know 
what  became  of  him,  though  he  here  put  him 
down  as  dying  for  the  faith !  *  However,  this 
Richard  was  one  of  the  rebels  in  Oldcastle’ s  re¬ 
bellion. 

Feb.  5.  —  Zisca,  confessor.  He  was  a  famous 
outlaw,  rebel,  and  murderer  in  Bohemia.  He 
called  himself  Monacomastix,  the  murderer  of 
monks.  After  many  robberies  and  risings  against 
his  lawful  sovereign,  he  died  of  the  plague. 
u  Thus  at  length  he  breathed  out  his  soul,  strick¬ 
en  with  the  plague  from  heaven,  as  we  may  well 
believe,  being  a  detestable,  cruel,  and  horrible 
monster.” 

Feb.  6.  —  Sir  John  Oldcastle ,  martyr.  He  was 
hanged  for  open  rebellion  against  his  king,  on 
the  fourteenth  of  December,  1417. 

Feb.  9.  —  Paid  Crawes ,  martyr.  He  was  a  sol¬ 
dier  of  the  rebel  Zisca ;  came  into  Scotland,  and 
there  raised  a  sedition. 

Feb.  12.  —  Sir  Roger  Onely,  martyr.  He  was 
hanged  at  Tyburn,  on  the  eighteenth  of  No¬ 
vember,  for  trying  to  murder  Henry  VI.  by 
necromancy. 

Eleanor  Cobham,  confessor.  She  was  Dutchess 


*Fox,  p.  519,  col.  1,  53. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


59 


of  Gloucester,  and  wife  of  Duke  Humphrey; 
she  was  banished  to  the  Isle  of  Mail  for  haying 
attempted  the  life  of  King  Henry  YI.  by  witch¬ 
craft,  in  the  twentieth  year  of  his  reign.* 

Feb.  14.  —  Mother  of  the  Lady  Young ,  martyr. 
Her  proper  name  is  Margery  Gourdmyn;  she 
was  the  famous  witch  of  Eye,  and  burnt  in 
Smithfield,  for  having  tried  to  murder  the  same 
king  by  her  conjurations  and  witchcraft. f 

Feb.  15.  —  Thomas  Eckles ,  martyr ,  1510;  mis¬ 
name  for  George  Eckles,  or  Trudge-over-the- 
World.  He  was  hanged  for  high  treason  forty- 
seven  years  afterwards,  on  the  second  of  August, 
1557. 

Feb.  18.  —  Dr.  Martin  Luther,  confessor.  Fox 
says,  Martin  Luther  “  is  the  Elias,  conductor, 
and  chariot  of  Israel,  to  be  reverenced  next  after 
Christ  and  Paul.  Let  us  see,  then,  how  far  his 
life  can  be  compared  with  the  life  of  Christ  and 
St.  Paul. 

Martin  Luther,  or  Luctor,  was  the  son  of  a 
blacksmith,  born  at  Isleby,  in  Saxony,  in  1483. 
Having  laid  the  foundation  of  his  studies  at 
home,  he  was  sent  to  Erford  University,  where 
lie  remained  till  his  twenty-second  year.  One 
day,  as  Luther  was  walking  with  his  companion, 
a  thunderbolt  struck  his  companion  dead,  which 
so  much  frightened  him,  that  he  went  and  joined 


*Stow,  A.D.  1441. 


f  Alan.  Cop.  Dial.,  6,  609,  610. 


60 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


the  Friars  of  St.  Augustine,  and  there  became  a 
Catholic  priest.  About  twelve  years  afterwards 
Pope  Leo  X.  granted  an  indulgence,  and  the 
Archbishop  of  Metz  employed  the  Dominican 
Friars,  instead  of  the  Augustinians,  to  preach  to 
the  people.  This  preference  of  the  Dominicans, 
before  him  and  his  order,  Luther  could  not 
brook ;  and,  like  the  fox  and  the  grapes,  because 
he  could  not  preach  the  indulgence  himself,  he 
began  with  all  his  might  to  preach  against  it. 
Being  called  upon  by  his  lawful  superiors  to  an¬ 
swer  for  his  bad  conduct,  his  proud  spirit  would 
not  let  him  yield ;  he  therefore  threw  off  all  au¬ 
thority,  and  gave  himself  up  to  every  kind  of 
wickedness.  He  kept  no  law,  nor  lived  under 
any  restraint,  as  he  himself  informs  us,  where 
lie  savs:  —  ‘‘  When  I  lived  in  my  monasterv,  I 
observed  my  vows  of  chastity,  of  poverty,  and 
obedience ;  but  now  I  am  burnt  with  the  flames 
of  my  untamed  flesh.  I  am  mad,  almost,  with 
the  rage  of  lust,  and  the  desire  of  women.  I, 
who  ought  to  be  fervent  in  spirit,  am  fervent  in 
impurity,  in  sloth,  etc.*  Belying  on  the  strong 
foundation  of  my  learning,  I  yield  not  in  pride 
either  to  emperor,  king,  prince,  or  devil ;  no,  not 
to  the  universe  itself.”  f  Thus  Luther,  raging  in 
his  Inst;  trampled  under  foot  the  laws  of  God 
and  man.  lie  broke  his  solemn  vows  of  chastity, 


*In  Coll.  Mens. 


t  Repp,  ad  Maled.  Reg.  Aug. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


61 


and  commanded  others  to  do  the  same.  He 
went  and  lived  in  adultery  with  a  nun,  whom  he 
had  seduced,  to  the  end  of  his  life.  He  allowed 
Philip,  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  to  have  two 
wives  at  once ;  and  he  says,  in  certain  cases,  “  A 
man  may  have  ten  or  more  wives,  all  living  at 
the  same  time.”  *  In  the  second  volume  of  his 
works  he  puts  forth  most  horrid  blasphemy 
against  God ;  such  blasphemy  as  chills  the  blood 
of  every  Christian  when  he  reads  it.  Again,  the 
Bible,  the  holy  word  of  God,  Luther  most  shame¬ 
fully  corrupts.  The  first  three  gospels  of  St.  Mat¬ 
thew,  St.  Mark,  and  St.  Luke,  he  declares  are 
false,  and  that  the  Epistle  of  St.  James  is  no 
better  than  straw.  In  his  Dutch  translation  of 
the  New  Testament,  Staphylus  found  more  than 
fourteen  hundred  wilful  corruptions. f  To  add  to 
his  character,  he  was  a  most  excessive  drunkard ; 
so  much  so,  that  they  have  this  proverb  in  Ger¬ 
many:  u  Bibamus  Luther anice  ” —  Let  us  drink 
like  Luther. 

Finally,  Luther  held  an  intimate  familiarity 
with  devils,  as  it  appears  from  his  letter  to  the 
Saxon  elector,  where  he  says  “  that  the  devil 
jigged  through  his  head  in  such  a  merry  mood, 
that  at  times  he  could  neither  write  nor  read.”  % 
Whilst  at  other  times  they  walked  about  the 
room  in  deep  and  learned  conversation.  “  The 

*Serm.  de  Mat.  fLind.  Dub.,  p.  84. 

t  Epist.  ad  Elect.  Sax.,  v.  5.  Ed.  of  Jena.,  p.  482. 


62 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


devil  walked  sometimes  about  my  bedroom  with 
me,”  savs  the  doctor,  “  and  often  down  to  dinner, 
at  which  I  have  eaten  above  a  bushel  of  salt  with 
him.”* * * §  Some  of  the  devils,  Luther  tells  us, 
were  malicious  devils,  who  cracked  his  nuts,  and 
rolled  empty  barrels  down  stairs  while  he  was 
asleep.  Others  were  more  good-natured  devils, 
who  attended  him  in  his  walks  by  day,  and  went 
to  bed  with  him  at  night.  But  there  were  two 
whom  he  so  much  admired  for  their  abilities  and 
learning,  that  he  declared  “  that  they  could  not 
be  every-day  devils ;  nay,”  says  he,  “  I  have  a 
pair  of  marvellous  devils,  learned  and  solid  di¬ 
vines,  in  the  universities  below,  who  continually 
attend  me.” f  “The  devil,”  says  he,  “sleeps 
oftener  and  closer  to  me  than  my  Catherine.”  X 
Yfe  find  him  even  wishing  to  fall  by  the  hand  of 
his  sooty  majesty.  “  I  should  like  death,”  says 
lie,  “  by  Satan,  as  I  should  then  fall  by  a  more 
noble  arm  than  that  of  the  emperor.”  §  Whether 
he  had  his  wish  is  not  certain ;  but  he  was  found 
dead  in  his  bed  after  eating  and  drinking  heartily 
at  supper. 

Before  I  conclude,  I  must  inform  you,  that  one 
night  the  devil  had  a  long  dispute  with  Luther, 
and  persuaded  him  to  abolish  the  Catholic  faith, 


*Con.  Dom.  Rem.  F.  19. 

tColl.  Mensall.  Germ.  ed.  F.  283. 

Jlbid.,  p.  275. 

§  Ibid.,  p.  32. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


63 


and  to  begin  the  Protestant  religion.  “  Being 
awakened  at  midnight,”  says  Luther,  “the 
devil  began  to  dispute  with  me,  according  to 
custom;  but  with  so  deep  and  powerful  a  tone  of 
voice,  that  a  cold  sweat  began  to  ooze  from 
every  pore,  and  my  heart  to  beat ;  and,  after  a 
long  dispute,  he  got  the  upper  hand  of  me.”* 
The  devil  urged  him  to  abolish  the  Mass,  etc. ; 
and  his  arguments  were  so  strong,  that  Luther 
says  he  was  obliged  to  yield !  Thus  having  taken 
the  devil  for  his  leader,  Luther  immediately  goes 
to  work  to  pull  down  the  Catholic  faith,  and 
build  up  the  Protestant  religion.  To  do  this,  he 
makes  use  of  all  the  arguments  which  the  devil 
had  put  into  his  head ;  but  these  not  succeeding 
so  well  as  he  could  wish,  he  next  declares  that 
all  the  Catholics  must  be  murdered.  “  Why  not 
assail  them,”  says  he,  “  with  every  kind  of 
weapon,  and  wash  our  hands  in  their  blood?”  f 
And  writing  to  one  of  the  League,  he  says, 
“  You  have  more  merit  in  shedding  the  blood  of 
the  Papists,  than  others  have  in  praying.”  X 
Thus  I  have  given  you  a  short  but  true  character 
of  Pox’s  Elias,  the  conductor  and  chariot  of 
Israel,  who,  he  says,  ought  to  be  reverenced  next 
to  Christ  and  Paul !  What !  can  a  man  who  was 
mad  with  lust  —  who  lived  in  adultery,  and 

*De  Missa  privata,  Ed.  Witten.,  tom.  7,  fol.  228. 

fTom.  1,  Ed.  Wit.,  p.  195. 

I  Lib.  ad  Rust. 


04 


A  SURE  AY  AY  TO  FIND  OUT 


caused  olliers  to  do  the  same  —  who  ay  rote  most 
horrid  blasphemy,  and  corrupted  the  Bible  — 
who  was  a  notorious  drunkard  and  companion 
of  deA’ils —  who  Avas  as  proud  as  Satan  himself, 
a  preacher  of  sedition  and  murder;  what!  can 
this  Avretch  be  compared  with  Christ  and  Paul? 
If  this  man  is  a  Protestant  saint,  pray  Avhat  are 
their  sinners? 

March  0.  —  Thomas  Hylton ,  martyr.  lie  was 
taken  at  Gravesend,  on  suspicion  of  stealing 
clothes  from  a  hedge.  Tie  suffered  at  Maidstone, 
in  Kent,  under  King  Henry  VIII.* 

Mar.  10.  —  Thomas  Bit  nay ,  martyr.  lie  re¬ 
tracted  his  errors,  and  died  a  Roman  Catholic. 

Mar.  12.  —  Edward  Freeze ,  confessor.  This 
man  Avas  mad,  and  died  in  that  state. 

Mar.  23.  —  Thomas  Cranmer,  Archbishop  of  Can¬ 
terbury  ,  martyr.  Was  a -most  Avicked  and  per¬ 
jured  man,  guilty  of  blasphemy,  incontinency, 
heresy,  high  treason,  rebellion,  and  murder.”  f 

April  1. — Bobert  Hatches ,  Archer ,  and  Haw¬ 
kins ,  martyrs. 

Apr.  2. —  Thomas  Bond ,  martyr. 

Apr.  3. —  W rig  sham,  martyr. 

Apr.  4.  —  Landsdalc ,  martyr. 

Apr.  5.  —  Mrs.  Smith ,  widow ,  martyr.  These 
martyrs,  says  Fox,  p.  887,  were  put  to  death  for 
lothing  else  only  because  they  had  taught  their 

*Sir  Thomas  More,  Tref.  Ans.  of  Tyndall, 
t  See  Lempriere  Eiog.  Dr.  Milner’s  Let.  Preb. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


65 


children  the  Lord’s  Prayer,  the  Creed,  and  the 
Ten  Commandments  in  English.  Ridiculous; 
for  every  man  of  sense  knows,  that  the  Catholics 
in  England  always  teach  their  children  their 
prayers  in  English.  These  people  suffered  under 
King  Henry  VIII.,  not  for  teaching  their  children 
the  Lord’s  Prayer,  etc.,  hut  for  holding  the  errors 
of  the  Lollards  and  Lutherans. 

Apr.  8.  —  William  Flower ,  minister ,  martyr. 
This  wretch  stabbed  a  priest,  the  Rev.  Sir  John 
Clieltliam,  at  the  altar,  at  St.  Margaret’s,  West¬ 
minster  ;  and  he  even  thanked  God  that  he  had 
committed  this  horrible  crime  —  “  of  which,” 
says  he,  “  I  repent  not.”  * 

May  2.  —  John  Huss,  martyr.  He  was  a  sedi¬ 
tious  priest,  of  Prague,  who  commenced  as  re¬ 
former  in  Bohemia,  as  Luther  did  afterwards  in 
Germany. 

May  3 . — Hieronymus  Savonarola,  mart yr.  This 
was  an  Italian  friar,  put  to  death  in  Florence  for 
raising  seditious  riots  in  the  commonwealth, 
though  in  all  matters  of  religion  he  agreed  ex¬ 
actly  with  the  Catholic  Church. f 
May  4.  —  Dominick,  martyr ;  a  friar  of  the 
same  order,  in  Florence,  executed  for  joining  the 
riots,  but  who  died  in  the  Catholic  faith. 

May  5.  —  Sylvester,  martyr ;  another  friar  of 
the  same  order,  in  Florence.  He  was  taken  by 

*Fox,  p.  1430. 

5 


f  Guiccerdine’s  Hist.  L.  3,  p.  99. 


66 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


u  the  magistrate  upon  the  slaughter  of  one  Fran¬ 
cisco  Valori,  murdered  in  that  tumult;  was  exe¬ 
cuted  for  the  same,  but  died  a  Catholic.* 

May  6.  —  Friar  Roy,  martyr.  He  was  a  friar, 
put  to  death  in  Portugal ;  but  whether  for  theft, 
murder,  or  anything  else,  Fox  says  he  cannot 
tell.f 

May  7. —  Robert  Kingc,  martyr.  This  man  was 
condemned  for  theft  and  sacrilege;  he  robbed 
the  church  of  Dover  Court,  in  Kent;  and  was 
hanged  in  chains  for  the  same,  by  order  of  a 
justice,  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII. 

May  8.  —  Robert  Debdam ,  martyr.  This  man 
was  also  hanged  for  the  same  robbery  and  sac¬ 
rilege  in  the  church  in  Dover  Court. 

May  9.  —  Nicholas  Marsh,  martyr.  The  third 
thief  hanged  for  the  robbery  and  sacrilege  com¬ 
mitted  in  the  same  church.:}: 

May  23  . —  William  Morant,  martyr;  a  seditious 
man,  who  went  about  to  raise  a  rebellion. 

May  24.  —  Stephen  Gratrick,  martyr;  another 
fellow  of  similar  character,  who  tried  to  raise 
tumults  against  the  bishops. § 

June  1. — Hierome  of  Prague,  martyr.  He  was 
an  associate  with  John  IIuss.  Before  their  time, 
the  Catholic  university  at  Prague  had  nearly 


*  Guic.  Paulus  Jovin’s  Life  of  Leo  X.,  Coveus  7.  Part  Hist.  Itali. 
fFox,  p.  936. 

t  F.  Parsons  3d  part  of  3  Con.  of  Eng.,  p.  466. 

•  §Ib.,  p.478. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


67 


thirty  thousand  scholars,  with  their  dependants, 
till  Hierome  and  his  master  Huss  caused  a  rebel¬ 
lion  among  them.  In  consequence  of  which 
more  than  twenty-four  thousand  German  schol- 
ars  left  within  eight  days,  which  entirely  ruined 
the  colleges  and  the  town  of  Prague.*  After 
this  he  began  to  defend  the  opinions  of  Wickliffe, 
which  brought  on  rebellions,  tumults,  and  blood¬ 
shed  in  every  place ;  and  these  rebellions  were 
afterwards  kept  up  by  the  rebel  Zisca,  another 
saint  of  Fox’s  church,  whom  we  have  mentioned 
on  the  fifth  of  February. 

Thus  we  have  gone  through  six  months  of 
Fox’s  calendar,  and  I  have  not  mentioned  one 
quarter  of  his  falsehoods :  the  other  six  months 
are  quite  as  bad.  You  see,  then,  what  a  book 
this  is,  which  Protestants  so  much  boast  of. 
These  saints  were  nothing  but  a  set  of  deluded, 
rebellious,  impious,  and  blasphemous  wretches, 
most  of  them  put  to  death  by  the  law  of  the  land 
where  they  resided  for  their  crimes.  Many  of 
them  were  condemned  for  their  lewd  lives,  con¬ 
spiracies,  rebellion  and  murder ;  some  for  witch¬ 
craft  and  conjuring;  others  for  sacrilege  and 
theft,  and' even  for  flatly  denying  Christ  himself. 
In  fact,  “to  call  a  man  one  of  Fox's  saints,  is 
become  the  same  as  to  call  him  a  great  rogue.”  f 
What  a  pretty  set  of  saints,  then,  are  those  to 

* Dubravius  Hist.  Bohem.  R.  23. 

fEng.  Con.  and  Ref.  Comp.,  p.  110. 


68 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


boast  of!  Surely  every  sensible  Protestant  must 
be  ashamed  of  such  saints  as  those. 

Q.  Has  Almighty  God  favored  Protestants 
with  the  gift  of  miracles,  to  show  that  He  was 
pleased  with  their  new  religion? 

A.  S.ome  of  them  indeed  have  attempted  to 
work  miracles,  but  failed  in  the  attempt.  In 
1545,  Luther  undertook  to  cast  a  devil  out  of  a 
young  girl  of  Misnea,  at  Wittemberg ;  but,  like 
the  Jewish  exorcists  (Acts  xix.  16),  the  demon 
assaulted,  and  seriously  hurt,  both  Luther  and 
his  companions.  Staphylus,  seeing  the  devil 
hold  his  master,  Luther,  by  the  throat,  endeav¬ 
ored  to  leave  the  room,  but  could  not  turn  the 
lock ;  so  picking  up  a  hatchet,  which  the  clerk 
had  thrown  through  the  window,  he  hewed 
down  the  door  and  scampered  off.*  Again, 
Bolscc,  in  the  Life  of  Calvin,  c.  1,  and  L.  Surius, 
in  his  Chron.,  relate,  that  Calvin  bribed  a  man, 
whose  name  was  Brunean,  to  counterfeit  himself 
dead,  that  he  might  raise  him  to  life;  after  some 
prayers,  Calvin  taking  him  by  the  hand,  com¬ 
manded  him  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  to  arise; 
but  all  in  vain,  for  Brunean  was  really  dead,  and 
all  the  prayers  of  Calvin  and  his  saints  could  not 
restore  him  to  life!  Upon  this  Brunean’s  wife 
became  distracted  with  grief,  and  declared  that 
her  husband  was  alive  when  he  made  the  bur- 


*Frid.  Staphylus’  Absolute  Apology,  p.  404. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


69 


gain,  but  now,  she  exclaimed,  “  he  is  as  dead  as 
a  nit,  and  as  cold  as  a  stone.”  Moreover,  in  the 
reign  of  Queen  Mary,  the  Protestant's  pretended 
that  there  was  a  spirit  in  an  old  stone  wall  at 
Aldersgate  that  spoke  many  wonderful  things. 
The  spirit  spoke  in  a  solemn  tone,  and  declared 
that  it  came  down  from  heaven  to  authorize  the 
Protestants  to  cut  off  the  Popish  Queen  Mary, 
and  to  put  an  end  to  the  Catholic  faith.  This 
was  believed  for  some  time  by  the  credulous 
mob,  till  at  length  they  pulled  down  the  wall, 
and  found  witliinside  Elizabeth  Crofts,  a  Prot¬ 
estant  impostor,  put  there  to  blind  and  seduce 
the  people !  Scarcely  was  this  trick  over  when 
they  bring  forward  a  young  man,  of  the  age  and 
features  of  Edward  VI.,  declaring  that  the  young 
king  was  risen  from  the  dead,  and  that  Mary 
must  be  expelled,  and  the  king  replaced  upon 
the  throne  again !  This  pretended  king  was  a 
young  impostor  of  the  name  of  Fetherston.*  So 
much  for  Protestant  miracles. 

As  for  the  tokens  of  the  divine  favor,  in  reading 
Baker’s  Chronicle,  Dr.  Ileylin’s  History  of  the 
Reformation,  and  other  Protestant  writers,  we 
find  a  succession  of  wonderful  things  that 
have  happened  since  the  reformation ,  which 
shows  how  much  Almighty  God  was  offended 
and  displeased  with  the  Protestant  religion.  In 


*  Word’s  Eng.  Ref.,  pp.  107,  108. 


70 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FJNI>  OUT 


1552,  a  sweating  sickness  infested  the  land;  it 
iirst  began  at  Shrewsbury,  went  through  the 
northern  countries,  and  then  visited  London. 
This  disease  seemed  a  judgment  to  the  first  Eng¬ 
lish  Protestants,  for  it  followed  them  whereso¬ 
ever  they  were,  in  foreign  parts,  but  did  not  so 
much  as  touch  one  of  another  country.  In  1577, 
July  4,  Mr.  Rowland  Jinks,  a  Catholic  book¬ 
seller  in  Oxford,  for  having  in  his  shop  the 
Pope’s  Bulls  and  Catholic  papers,  was  cast  into 
prison,  and  most  unjustly  condemned  to  lose  all 
his  property,  to  have  both  his  ears  nailed  to  the 
pillory,  and  to  deliver  himself  by  cutting  them 
off  with  his  own  hands ;  but  no  sooner  was  the 
sentence  passed,  than  a  most  dreadful  disease 
burst  forth  in  the  midst  of  the  court,  and  seized 
upon  all  there  present.  Great  numbers  dropped 
down  dead  on  the  spot ;  others  rushed  out  of  the 
court  half  suffocated,  and  died  in  a  few  hours 
afterwards.  In  the  space  of  two  days,  nearly 
all  the  witnesses  died;  and  in  the  first  night, 
about  six  hundred  lost  their  lives;  and  the  next 
day,  it  seized  upon  one  hundred  in  the  nearest 
streets.  The  disease  was  a  kind  of  madness;  for 
the  sick  leaped  out  of  bed,  and  beat  with  their 
sticks  all  those  who  came  to  assist  them ;  some 
ran  through  the  courts  and  streets  in  a  state  of 
insanity,  and  others  threw  themselves  down 
headlong  into  deep  waters.  Every  hall,  every 
college,  every  house  had  its  dead ;  and  what  is 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


71 


more  remarkable,  all  the  grand  jury,  except  one 
or  two,  died  as  soon  as  they  had  left  Oxford.* 
In  1580,  in  Somersetshire,  sixty  persons,  all 
clothed  in  black,  appeared  about  two  hundred 
and  twenty  yards  from  those  who  saw  them ; 
and,  after  haying  staid  a  short  time,  they  van¬ 
ished  away;  but  immediately  another  strange 
company,  in  like  manner,  color  and  number, 
appeared  in  the  same  place;  they  encountered 
each  other,  and  then  vanished  away  ;  and  a  third 
time,  there  appeared  sixty  more,  all  in  bright 
armor,  and,  after  having  encountered  one  an¬ 
other,  they  also  vanished  away.f  In  1594,  a 
dreadful  plague  in  London  carried  off  171,890 
persons,  with  the  Lord  Mayor  and  three  Aider- 
men.  In  1596,  Lord  Hundsdon,  being  very  ill, 
saw  six  of  his  companions,  already  dead,  come 
to  him  one  after  another.  The  first  was  Dudley, 
Earl  of  Leicester,  all  in  fire;  the  second  wras 
Secretary  Wa  1  s i ngh am ,  also  in  fire  and  flame; 
the  third  was  Pickering,  so  cold  and  frozen, 
that,  touching  Hundsdon’s  hand,  he  (the  latter) 
thought  he  should  have  died  of  cold ;  the  fourth 
was  Hatton,  Lord  Chancellor;  the  fifth  Hen- 
neage;  the  sixth  Knolles — these  last  three  all  on 
fire ;  they  all  told  him  that  Sir  William  Cecil, 
one  of  their  companions  yet  living,  was  to  pre- 

*  Ant.  'Wood  Hist.  Anti.  Univer.  Oxon.  1.  p.  294. 

]  Baker’s  Chron.,  p.  400. 


72 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


pare  himself  to  come  shortly  after  them.*  In 
1603,  Queen  Elizabeth  saw,  one  night  as  she  lay 
in  bed,  her  own  body,  exceedingly  lean  and  fear¬ 
ful,  in  a  light  of  fire.  After  this,  she  sat  ten 
days  and  ten  nights  on  the  carpet,  ready  dressed, 
and  could  never  be  brought  by  any  of  her  coun¬ 
cil  to  go  to  bed,  or  eat,  or  drink,  except  a  little 
broth  which  one  of  her  courtiers  persuaded  her 
to  take.  On  that  occasion  she  told  him  that  if  he 
knew  what  she  had  seen  in  her  bed,  lie  would 
not  tease  her  as  he  did;  and,  shaking  her  head, 
she  said,  with  a  pitiful  voice,  “  My  lord,  I  am 
tied  with  a  chain  of  iron  about  my  neck;  I  am 
tied,  and  the  case  is  altered  with  me.”  How¬ 
ever,  she  seemed  still  to  place  more  confidence 
in  charms  and  spells,  than  in  prayer  to  God ; 
for  she  wore  a  piece  of  gold  in  her  ruff,  by  means 
of  which  an  old  woman  in  Wales  was  said  to 
have  lived  to  the  age  of  one  hundred  years,  and 
could  not  die  as  long  as  she  wore  it  upon  her 
body,  and  the  card  called  the  queen  of  hearts 
was  found  nailed  under  the  bottom  of  her  chair. 
As  the  sickness  grew  worse,  the  council  sent  to 
her  the  Bishop  of  Canterbury  and  other  clergy¬ 
men  ;  but  as  soon  as  she  saw  them,  she  fell  into 
a  passion,  began  to  abuse  them,  and  bade  them 
be  packing.  Upon  this,  some  of  her  lords  moved 
to  have  other  bishops  sent  for;  but  she  answered, 


*F.  Costerus,  Compen.  Orthodox*  Fidei. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


73 


that  she  would  “  have  none  of  these  hedge-priests .” 
Falling1  soon  after  this  into  a  slumber,  she  de¬ 
parted.  Her  body  was  then  opened  and  em¬ 
balmed.  It  was  afterwards  brought  to  White 
Hall,  where  it  was  watched  every  night  by  six 
ladies,  who  were  on  each  side  of  the  body,  which 
was  fast  within  a  board  coffin,  and  one  of  lead, 
covered  with  velvet.  It  happened,  however,  that 
her  body  burst  the  coffins  with  so  great  violence, 
attended  with  a  most  dreadful  noise,  that  it  split 
the  wood  and  lead,  and  tore  the  velvet,  to  the 
terror  and  astonishment  of  all  present.*  The 
plague  began  the  same  year  in  London,  Decem¬ 
ber  23,  and  continued  till  the  twenty-second  of 
December  following,  and  there  died  in  that 
place  38,244.  In  1619,  a  small  pool  in  Cambridge 
became  as  red  as  blood  —  the  water  being  taken 
up  into  basins  still  kept  the  same  color;  and 
many  signs  were  seen  in  the  air,  such  as  armies 
fighting  one  against  another.  In  1665,  there  was 
another  dreadful  plague  in  London,  that  destroyed 
100,000  inhabitants.  In  1666,  many  Protestants 
prophecied  the  downfall  of  the  Pope,  on  the 
second  of  September ;  and,  on  that  very  day,  a 
dreadful  fire  broke  out  in  London,  and  continued 
burning  three  days  and  three  nights.  In  spite 
of  every  effort  to  stop  its  progress,  600  streets, 


*F.  Parson’s  Discus.,  pp.  217,  218,  printed  1612. 


74 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


89  churches,  St.  Paul’s  Cathedral,  and  more  than 
30,000  houses,  were  burnt  to  ashes. 

After  Henry  VHI.  began  to  introduce  the 
Protestant  religion,  his  life  seems  to  have  been 
one  continued  curse ;  nothing  that  he  did,  pros¬ 
pered;  the  plunder  of  all  the  religious  houses, 
the  fines  imposed  upon  the  clergy,  and  the  rilling 
of  the  churches,  brought  him  more  money  than 
all  the  preceding  kings  had  received  during  the 
long  period  of  five  hundred  years;  yet  all  these 
vast  riches,  added  to  the  enormous  sum  of 
£4,300,000  (which  was  equal  to  near  £10,000,000 
•  at  the  present  day  of  ready  money)  left  by  his 
father,  could  not  keep  him  from  want.*  F or  about 
the  thirty-sixth  year  of  his  reign,  of  all  the  kings 
of  England,  he  alone  was  so  wretchedly  poor, 
that  he  was  obliged  to  make  base  coin ;  not  only 
tin  and  copper,  but  leather  money !  He  was  un¬ 
happy  in  the  midst  of  all  his  pleasures;  poor 
amidst  all  his  rapine  and  plunder;  and  he  died 
exclaiming,  u All  is  lost.”  The  curse  of  this 
wicked  king  extended  to  his  offspring ;  his  chil¬ 
dren  all  died  childless;  his  family  is  extinct  ;  his 
crown  and  his  kingdom  are  given  to  a  foreign 
nation;  and,  like  Kero,  his  name  is  not  men¬ 
tioned  but  as  coupled  with  his  crimes.  The 
Stuarts  next  ascended  the  throne ;  and  James  I., 
born  and  confirmed  a  Roman  Catholic,  becomes 


*  Spelman  de  non  temer.  Eccl.,  p.  44. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


75 


an  apostate  from  his  faith,  ancl  puts  himself  at 
the  head  of  the  Protestant  religion.  On  account 
of  his  apostasy,  a  heavy  curse  seems  to  he  de¬ 
nounced  against  him  and  his  posterity ;  for, 
after  meeting  with  many  difficulties  and  trou¬ 
bles,  he  dies  —  not  without  suspicion  of  being 
murdered.  Ilis  son,  King  Charles  I.,  was  be¬ 
headed  at  Whitehall;  and  his  grandson,  King 
Charles  II.,  after  having  been  defeated  in  battle 
by  his  own  subjects  at  Worcester,  narrowly  es¬ 
caped  with  his  life.  He  went  abroad,  and  lived 
in  banishment  for  many  years;  and,  after  his 
restoration,  he  seems  to  have  been  constantly 
alarmed  with  plots,  conspiracies,  and  bloody 
executions ;  nor  dared  he  to  die  in  the  practice 
of  that  religion  of  which  he  had  professed  him¬ 
self  the  head.  When  his  last  moments  drew 
near,  the  Protestant  Bishop  Kenn  waited  on  him, 
and  asked  him  if  he  would  receive  the  Lord’s 
Supper;  he  answered,  “I  will  not.”  lie  then 
said  to  the  Duke  of  York,  “  I  will  have  Father 
Huddlestone ,  who  preserved  me  in  the  tree  ;  and  I 
hope  will  now  preserve  my  soul.”  Father  Huddle- 
stone  was  a  Roman  Catholic  priest,  who  had 
lived  for  some  time  with  Mr.  Whitgrave,  of 
Moseley,  in  Staffordshire.  He  came  and  soothed 
the  troubled  mind  of  the  dying  king,  and  gave 
him  all  the  rites  of  the  holy  Catholic  Church. 
King  James  II.  next  succeeded,  but  was  so  beset 
with  difficulties  and  troubles  on  every  side,  that 


76 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


in  bitter  anguish  he  exclaimed,  “  God  help  me! 
My  own  children  have  forsaken  me  in  my  utmost 
need.”  He  lost  his  crown,  and  lied  to  banish¬ 
ment,  where  he  died  a  member  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  Queen  Anne,  the  second  daughter  of 
James,  reigned  with  little  better  success  than 
her  father;  after  many  years,  rendered  unhappy 
by  party  disputes,  she  dies  of  a  broken  heart. 
The  rest  of  the  posterity  of  the  unhappy  king 
became  wretched  wanderers  in  a  foreign  land ; 
and  the  race  is  now  extinct.  The  judgments  of 
God,  which  seem  to  have  fallen  so  heavily  upon 
the  kings  and  their  posterity,  appear  to  have 
fallen  with  no  less  vengeance  upon  the  nobility 
and  gentry,  and  on  all  those  who  had  any  hand 
in  forming  and  introducing  the  Protestant  relig¬ 
ion  ;  for,  in  less  than  twenty  years  after  the 
mock  Reformation,  more  of  our  nobility  have 
been  brought  to  trial,  condemned  and  executed, 
than  had  been  for  nearly  five  hundred  years 
before.*  And,  if  we  examine  the  list  of  the 
nobles  and  barons  who  composed  the  parliament 
of  the  27th  and  31st  of  Ilenry  VIII.,  and  con¬ 
sented  to  the  introduction  of  the  Protestant  re¬ 
ligion,  and  the  destruction  of  the  religious  houses, 
we  shall  find  very  few  who  did  not  die  a  pitiful 
and  untimely  death;  and  what  is  more  remark¬ 
able,  scarcely  one  of  all  that  vast  number  has 


*Spelman  de  non  temer.  Eccl.,  p.  42. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


77 


left  a  son  or  heir  to  bring  clown  his  name  to  the 
present  day.  In  the  year  1615,  Sir  II.  Spelman 
described  with  a  pair  of  compasses,  in  the  map 
of  JNforfolk,  a  cirole  of  twelve  miles,  placing  the 
centre  about  the  chief  seat  of  the  Yelvertons ; 
within  this  circle  and  the  borders  of  it,  he  en¬ 
closed  the  mansion-houses  of  about  twenty-four 
families  of  gentlemen,  and  the  same  number  of 
monasteries,  all  standing  together  at  the  time  of 
the  dissolution ;  and  he  then  observed,  that  the 
gentlemen’s  seats  continued  at  that  day  in  their 
own  families  and  names.  But  no  sooner  hacl 
these  gentlemen  got  possession  of  the  monas¬ 
teries  and  lands  of  the  Catholic  Church,  than  all, 
except  two,  were  either  sold  out,  died,  or  met 
with  some  misfortune,  so  that  all  their  estates, 
two  only  excepted,  changed  their  masters  at  least 
three  times,  and  some  of  them  four,  five,  or  six 
times,  in  the  short  space  of  seventeen  years.* 
Again,  when  England  professed  the  Catholic 
religion,  every  one  enjoyed  peace  and  plenty. 
There  were  then  no  poor  taxes,  no  taking  over¬ 
seers  before  the  magistrates,  no  workhouses,  no 
bankrupts,  and  no  national  debt.  But  now,  see 
the  change!  Yo  sooner  had  the  Protestant  re¬ 
ligion  begun,  than  she  opened  Pandora’s  box, 
and  out  Hew  every  species  of  evil  that  afflicts  the 
human  race.  By  the  returns  of  the  poor-rates 


*Spclman’s  Hist,  of  Sacrilege,  p.  243. 


78 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


in  England  and  Wales,  it  appears  that  for  law 
expenses  only,  in  the  year  1819,  more  money 
was  paid  than  the  whole  expenditure  for  the 
king,  his  court,  minister,  ambassadors,  the 
princes,  and  all  the  state  pensioners  added  to¬ 
gether.  The  whole  expenses  of  the  poor  amount 
to  a  sum  equal  to  the  revenue  of  the  Emperor  of 
Russia,  who  maintains  an  army  of  a  million  of 
soldiers,  and  to  more  than  twice  the  expenses  of 
the  United  States;  *  and,  in  less  than  three  hun¬ 
dred  years,  the  nation  has  become  so  wretchedly 
poor  that  it  has  contracted  a  debt  of  more  than 
£1,250,000,000. 

Q.  Arc  we  then  to  conclude  that  the  Prot¬ 
estant  religion  must  be  very  displeasing  in  the 
sight  of  God,  to  draw  down  upon  the  nation  all 
these  evils? 

A.  Beyond  all  doubt;  nor  is  it  a  matter  of 
surprise,  that  Almighty  God  should  show  so 
many  signs  of  His  displeasure  against  those  who 
have  brought  upon  the  land  the  destruction  of 
religion,  and  the  profanation  of  everything  that 
was  consecrated  to  his  honor  and  glory,  when 
we  consider  the  heavy  judgments  inflicted  upon 
those  who  were  formerly  guilty  of  the  same 
offence.  We  read  in  Numbers  xvi.  that  Korah 
and  his  companions,  for  aspiring  to  become 
priests  without  being  lawfully  called  and  sent, 


*  Birmingham  and  Litchfield  Chron.,  Feb.  7,  1822. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


79 


were  punished  in  a  most  dreadful  manner ;  the 
earth  opened  and  swallowed  them  down  alive 
into  hell,  and  fire  came  out  from  the  Lord  and 
destroyed  fourteen  thousand  seven  hundred  of 
the  people  who  had  dared  to  complain  that  the 
punishment  of  Korah  was  too  severe.  In  2 
Chron.  xxvi.  19,  King  Uzziah  took  upon  himself 
the  priestly  office,  and  burnt  incense  in  the  tem¬ 
ple;  but,  for  this  wicked  action,  he  was  upon 
the  spot  struck  with  an  incurable  leprosy.  Jer¬ 
oboam  did  but  stretch  out  his  hand  against  the 
prophet,  and  presently  it  withered,  1  Kings 
xiii.  4.  Antiochus  Epiphanes  died  in  great  tor¬ 
ment,  devoured  alive  by  worms,  for  robbing  the 
temple  of  God,  1  Mac.  c.  vi. ;  and  in  c.  vii., 
Kicanor  is  slain  for  threatening  to  burn  that  holy 
temple ;  his  head  and  right  hand  are  cut  off,  and 
suspended  over  against  Jerusalem;  and  the 
whole  of  his  army  perished  to  a  man.  Lastly, 
the  prophet-  Isaias,  in  describing  the  church  of 
Christ,  says :  That  the  nation  and  the  kingdom  that 
will  not  serve  her  shall  perish,  c.  i.  v.  12. 

Q.  It  must  be  then  a  dreadful  thing  to  meddle 
with,  or  alter,  that  religion  which  God  himself 
has  established.  But  pray,  lias  Almighty  God 
given  the  Catholic  Church  power  to  work  mir¬ 
acles  ? 

A.  Yes;  our  Divine  Saviour  promised  to  his 
disciples  the  power  of  working  miracles,  and  even 
greater  than  he  himself  had  done,  Mark  xvi.  17, 


80 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


John  xiv.  12.  Accordingly  the  fathers  and  doc- 
tors  of  the  church  have  always  appealed  to  the 
miracles  that  have  been  performed  by  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  Catholic  Church,  as  a  proof  that  the 
Lord  is  with  her;  for  without  the  power  of  God, 
no  man  can  do  such  things.  Giving  sight  to  the 
blind,  speech  to  the  dumb,  hearing  to  the  deaf, 
casting  out  devils,  raising  the  dead  to  life,  etc., 
are  true  miracles;  and  these,  many  Protestant 
writers  allow  to  have  been  done  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  Collier,  a  Protestant  divine, 
speaking  of  St.  Augustine,  a  Catholic  bishop, 
and  his  companions,  all  Catholics,  who  came 
and  converted  England  above  nine  hundred 
years  before  the  Protestant  religion  commenced, 
says,  “  that  notwithstanding  the  seeming  impos¬ 
sibilities,  they  were  blessed  with  surprising  suc¬ 
cess.  The  sanctity  of  their  lives,  and  the  force 
of  their  miracles ,”  says  he,  “  broke  through  the 
difficulty  of  their  enterprise.”  *  Even  Fox  ac¬ 
knowledges  that  “  the  king  considered  the  honest 
conversation  of  their  lives,  and  was  moved  with 
the  miracles  wrought  through  God's  hand  by 
them.”f  Lempriere,  a  Protestant  writer,  says, 
“  that  in  the  12th  century,  St.  Bernard,  a  Cath¬ 
olic  abbot,  wrought  miracles  ”%  Hackluys,  a 
Protestant  parson,  writes,  “  that  St.  F.  Xaverius, 
a  Catholic  priest,  in  the  16th  century,  converted 

*Pref.  to  Eccl.  Hist.  f  Acts  and  Monuments,  Col.  2. 

J  Biogr.  Die. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


81 


the  East  Indies,  and  performed  many  miracles”* * * § 
Baldeus  and  Tavernier,  both  Protestants,  attest 
the  saine.f  About  the  same  time  lived  Philip 
Xeri,  a  Catholic  priest,  who  wrought  many  mir¬ 
acles  ;  and  in  proof  of  which,  three  hundred  wit¬ 
nesses  were  examined,  and  all  declared  them  to 
be  true. 

The  17th  century  was  made  glorious  by  the 
well-attested  miracles  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales,  a 
Catholic  bishop,  even  to  the  raising  of  the  dead 
to  life,$  as  it  was  also  by  those  of  St.  J.  Francis 
Regis,  concerning  which,  twenty-two  bishops  of 
Languedoc  wrote  thus  to  Pope  Clement  XI. : 
“  AVe  are  witnesses  that  before  the  tomb  of  St.  J. 
F.  Regis,  the  blind  see,  the  lame  walk,  the  deaf 
hear,  the  dumb  speak. §  '  Thousands  of  other 
miracles  I  pass  over  in  silence,  but  these  few 
even  Protestants,  you  see,  do  not  deny.  There¬ 
fore,  since  miracles  are  wrought  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  we  know  for  pertain  that  she  comes 
from  God;  for  no  church  can  do  the  miracles 
which  she  doth,  except  God  be  with  her,  John 
m.  2. 


*  Voys.  and  Vaviga.,  Vol.  2,  Part  2,  p.  8. 

j  Bahour’s  Life  of  St.  Xav. 

J  Marsolier’s  Life  of  St.  F.  de  Sales. 

§  Life  of  J.  F.  Regis,  by  Deberton. 


6 


82 


A  SURE  AY  AY  TO  FIND  OUT 


DIALOGUE  TV. 

On  Catholicity ,  the  Third  Mark. 

Q.  Pray,  what  does  the  word  Catholic  mean? 

A.  The  word  Catholic  means  Universal  —  that 
is,  spread  over  the  known  world.  And  this  Gos¬ 
pel  shall  be  preached  in  the  ivhole  world ,  for  a 
testimony  to  all  nations,  Matt.  xxiv.  14.  Go  ye 
therefore  and  teach  all  nations,  Matt,  xxviii.  19. 
Go  ye  into  the  ivhole  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel 
to  every  creature,  Mark  xvi.  15. 

Q.  Do  not  the  Protestants  say  that  theirs  is  the 
Holy  Catholic  Church,  and  ours  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  ? 

A.  The  parsons  indeed  say  this  to  blind  the 
ignorant  people,  and  that  is  all.  That  the  Prot¬ 
estant  religion  is  not  holy,  I  have  sufficiently 
proved  in  treating  on  the  second  mark,  Holiness; 
and  that  it  is  not  Catholic,  I  shall  prove  to  you 
by  the  following  argument.  First,  the  Protestant 
religion  in  Great  Britain,  as  it  is  established  by 
law,  is  a  religion  by  itself;  distinct  are  its  faith 
and  worship,  and  different  from  every  other  sect 
of  Protestants.  “  Our  Articles,”  savs  the  Prot- 
estant  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  “  our  Articles  and 
Liturgy  do  not  correspond  with  the  sentiments 
of  any  of  the  eminent  reformers  on  the  continent, 
or  with  the  creeds  of  any  of  the  Protestant 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


83 


churches  which  arc  there  established.”  *  Conse- 

•  • 

-qnently,  the  Protestant  religion  of  that  nation  is 
the  religion  of  only  that  one  nation.  Now  let 
me  ask  the  good  sense  of  any  Protestant,  if  the 
religion  of  a  single  nation,  the  religion  of  a  small 
island,  the  religion  of  a  little  corner  of  the  world, 
and  of  a  mere  handful  of  men,  is  a  Catholic 
religion?  you  might  as  well  call  England  the 
universe,  for  Catholic  is  the  same  as  Universal . 
Again,  the  Catholic  Church  is  that  church  into 
which  all  nations  flow.  Now  the  Protestant 
Church  of  that  nation  consists  of  little,  or  noth¬ 
ing  else  but  Englishmen.  But  I  have  even  said 
too  much,  for  it  is  by  no  means  true  that  all 
Englishmen,  or  yet  the  greater  part  of  English¬ 
men,  are  members  of  the  Protestant  Church :  for 
the  greater  part  of  Englishmen  are  not  its  mem¬ 
bers.  Therefore  the  Protestant  Church  consists 
of  a  mere  handful  of  people,  of  a  small  portion 
of  a  small  community,  in  a  small  island,  and 
consequently  cannot  be  Catholic  or  Universal. 
The  true  church  must  be  Universal  in  point  of 
time  as  well  as  place.  For  “  the  true  church,” 
says  a  Protestant  bishop,  Dr.  Tomline,  “  was 
designed  not  only  to  be  Universal,  but  Perpetual.” 
Therefore,  the  true  church  has  existed  always, 
from  the  age  of  the  apostles  down  to  the  present 
dav.  But  the  Protestant  Church  has  not  existed 


*  Dr.  Tomline’s  Charge,  November,  1803. 


84 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


always,  from  the  age  of  the  Apostles  down  to  the 
present  day;  for  we  know  exactly  the  beginning 
of  the  Protestant  religion  in  England ;  the  history 
of  the  men  who  formed  it ;  the  occasion  which  gave 
it  birth;  the  plots  and  crimes  which  accompanied 
and  helped  to  establish  it;  and  from  these  we 
know  that  it  is  new,  and  not  yet  three  hundred 
years  old;  we  know  that  it  is  a  creature  of  yes¬ 
terday,  and  consequently  can  no  more  claim  the 
title  of  Catholic  in  point  of  time,  than  it  can  in 
point  of  place. 

Q.  Is,  then,  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  spread 
over  the  whole  world? 

A.  Yes;  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  spread 
throughout  the  known  world.  The  Roman  Cath- 
olic  religion  is  the  established  religion  of  the  sev¬ 
eral  states  of  Italy,  of  most  of  the  Swiss  cantons, 
of  Piedmont,  of  France,  of  Spain,  of  Portugal, 
and  of  the  islands  in  the  Mediterranean;  of  more 
than  five  parts  out  of  six  of  Ireland,  of  far  the 
greater  part  of  the  Netherlands,  Poland,  Bo¬ 
hemia,  Germany,  Hungary,  and  the  neighboring 
provinces;  and  in  those  kingdoms  and  states  in 
which  it  is  not  the  established  religion,  the  Cath¬ 
olics  are  very  numerous,  as  in  Holland,  Russia, 
Turkey,  the  Lutheran  and  Calvinistic  states  of 
Germany  and  England.  Even  in  Sweden  and 
Denmark,  several  Catholic  congregations  are  to 
be  found.  All  the  great  families  of  Europe  are 
Roman  Catholics,  as  the  Protestants  themselves 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION.  85 

are  forced  to  confess,  when  they  say  that  u  as  his 
late  Majesty,  King  George  the  Third,  could  not 
espouse  a  Roman  Catholic,  he  was  precluded 
from  intermarrying  in  any  of  the  great  families 
of  Europe.'1'  *  The  whole  vast  continent  of  South 
America  may  be  said  to  be  Catholic,  the  same  may 
be  said  of  the  empire  of  Mexico,  and  the  kingdoms 
in  ISTorth  America,  including  California,  Cuba, 
Hispaniola,  etc.  Canada  and  Louisiana  are  chiefly 
Catholic,  and  throughout  the  United  Provinces 
the  Catholic  religion  propagated;  to  say  noth¬ 
ing  of  the  islands  of  Africa  inhabited  by  Cath¬ 
olics,  such  as  Malta,  Madeira,  Cape  Verd,  the 
Canaries,  the  Azores,  Mauritius,  Gorec,  etc. 
There  are  numerous  churches  of  Catholics  in 
Egypt,  Ethiopia,  Algiers,  Tunis,  and  the  other 
Barbary  States  on  the  Northern  coast,  and  thence 
in  all  the  Portuguese  settlements  along  the 
Western  coast,  and  particularly  at  Angola  and 
Congo.  Even  on  the  Eastern  coast,  for  instance, 
in  the  kingdom  of  Zanguebar  and  Monomotapa, 
are  numerous  Catholic  churches.  There  are  also 
numerous  Catholic  priests  and  many  bishops, 
with  numerous  flocks,  throughout  the  greater 
part  of  Asia.  All  the  Maronets  about  Mount 
Libanus,  with  their  bishops,  priests,  and  monks, 
are  Catholics;  so  are  many  of  the  Arminians, 
Persians,  and  other  Christians  of  the  surround- 


*  Goldsmith’s  Hist,  of  Eng.,  10th  edit.,  p.  322. 


86 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


ing  kingdoms  and  provinces.*  The  whole  pop¬ 
ulation  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  consisting  of 
two  millions  of  souls,  are  all  Catholic.  The 
diocese  of  Goa  contains  four  hundred  thousand 
Catholics.  In  short,  there  are  numbers  of  Cath¬ 
olics  throughout  the  whole  Peninsula  of  India 
within  the  Ganges.  In  Travancor  and  Cochin 
are  a  Catholic  Archbishopric  and  two  Bishop¬ 
rics,  one  of  which  contains  thirty-five  thousand 
communicants.]  There  are  numerous  Catholic 
flocks,  with  their  bishops  and  priests,  in  all  the 
kingdoms  and  states  beyond  the  Ganges,  partic¬ 
ularly  in  Siam,  Cochin  China,  Tonquin,  and  the 
different  provinces  of  the  Chinese  Empire.  Since, 
then,  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  not  confined 
to  a  little  island,  but  is  taught  in  almost  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  earth,  and  in  every  corner  of 
the  known  world,  it  follows  of  course  that  she 
is  the  true  Catholic,  or  Universal  Church.  The 
Roman  Church -is  also  Catholic  in  point  of  time; 
for  she  has  existed  always,  from  the  age  of  the 
apostles  down  to  the  present  day.  That  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion  came  down  from  the 
time  of  the  apostles  is  a  truth  wliich  the  Prot¬ 
estants  cannot  with  any  consistency  denv;  for 
in  their  book  of  homilies,  they  declare  that  all 
the  world  was  Popery,  and  that  for  more  than 

*  Sir  R.  Steele’s  Acc.  of  the  Catholic  Religion  throughout  the 
World. 

| Dr.  Kerr’s  Let.,  p.  7,  487. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


87 


eight  hundred  years  before  the  Reformation.  No- 
pier,  a  Protestant  writer,  says,  “  that  from  the 
year  of  Christ  316,  the  Papistical  reign  had 
begun,  reigning  universally,  and  without  any 
debatable  contradiction,  1260  years.”*  Again: 
“The  Pope  and  clergy  have  possessed  the  out¬ 
ward  visible  Church  1260  years.”  f  And  this 
before  th e  Reformation.  Lastly,  the  fourProtestant 
annalists  say,  “  that  the  straw  and  stubble  of  the 
Papistical  religion  began  even  from  the  age  im¬ 
mediately  after  Christ  and  his  apostles.”  Thus 
has  God  confounded  the  enemies  of  his  holy 
Church,  by  making  them  become  witnesses  of  the 
truth,  and  proclaim  themselves  that  the  Catholic 
religion  has  come  down  from  the  time  of  the 
apostles,  in  those  very  writings  which  they  in¬ 
tended  for  the  bitterest  reproaches  against  her. 
Since,  then,  the  Protestant  writers  acknowledge 
that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  come  down 
from  the  time  of  the  apostles  to  the  present  day, 
it  follows,  of  course,  that  time  as  well  as  in  point 
of  place ;  and,  therefore,  most  certainly  has  the 
third  mark  of  the  true  Church  of  God. 

*Nepier’s  Revela.  prop.  37,  p.  38 

tlbid.  chap.  11,  p.  145. 


88 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


DIALOGUE  V. 

On  Apostolicity ,  the  Fourth  Mark. 

Q.  You  say  the  true  church  must  also  be 
Apostolical? 

A.  Yes;  the  true  church  was  established  by 
our  Divine  Saviour,  and  governed  by  the  apos¬ 
tles;  for  you  are  built ,  says  St.  Paul,  upon  the 
foundation  of  the  apostles  —  Jesus  Christ  himself 
being  the  chief  corner-stone,  Ephes.  ii.  20,  and  no 
one  can  lay  any  other  foundation  but  that  which  is 
laid,  I.  Cor.  iii.  11.  Indeed,  that  the  true  church 
must  be  Apostolical,  that  is,  the  same  as  the 
apostles  established,  no  consistent  Protestant  can 
call  in  question. 

Q.  Do  not  Protestants  say  that  their  church  is 
the  \;ery  same  church  as  that  which  the  apostles 
governed? 

A.  They  say  so,  indeed,  but  without  the  least 
semblance  of  truth;  since  her  beginning,  her 
doctrine,  her  orders,  and  her  mission  are  all 
new;  they  are  other  own  making, and  therefore 
do  not  come  down  from  the  apostles.  The  Prot¬ 
estant  book  of  homilies  declares  “  that  every 
man,  woman,  and  child  of  the  Christian  world 
was  drowned  in  damnable  idolatry,  or  Popery, 
as  they  nicknamed  the  Catholic  religion,  and  this 
for  more  than  800  years.  Where,  then,  was  the 
Protestant  Church  all  this  time?  Was  she  a 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


89 


Christian  church,  and  yet  in  no  part  of  the 
Christian  world?  She  could  not  be  in  the  world 
at  all,  because  all  the  world  was  overran  with 
Popery,  as  the  Protestants  allow.  The  plain 
truth  of  the  matter  is,  that  the  Protestant  relig¬ 
ion  had  no  being  at  all  before  the  sixteenth 
century,  and,  therefore,  came  into  the  world  fif¬ 
teen  hundred  years  too  late  to  be  apostolical. 

II.  The  Protestant  Church  has  not  received 
her  doctrine  from  the  apostles;  that  is,  she  does 
not  teach  the  same  doctrine  which  they  taught, 
but  a  doctrine  of  her  own  making,  as  can  be 
easily  shown  from  the  histories  and  records  of 
the  church.  We  will  just  examine  a  few  of  the 
doctrines  that  were  taught  in  the  first  five  ages, 
when  the  Protestants  say  the  church  was  pure, 

[and  had  taught  the  doctrine  of  the  apostles.  In 
those  times,  wTe  find  that  the  bishops  and  priests 
of  the  church  believed,  and  taught  the  people, 
that  there  were  seven  sacraments — all  instituted 
by  our  Lord,  whereby  the  merits  of  his  passion 
are  applied  to  the  soul  of  the  worthy  receiver ;  * 
that  in  the  blessed  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist, 
there  is  truly  and  really  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  under  the  appearance  of  bread  and  wine.f 

*See  Faith  of  Catholics,  p.  181. 

t  St.  Ignatius  Ep.  ad  Smyrn.,  p.  8G,  T.  2.  St.  Cyril  Catech. 
n.  4,  p.  281. 


90 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


The  holy  sacrifice,  or  Mass,*  the  confession  of 
sins,f  indulgences, %  purgatory,'  and  prayers  for 
the  dead;  that  the  souls  in  purgatory  are  helped 
by  our  prayers, §  and  that  it  is  good  and  profit¬ 
able  to  ask  the  angels  and  saints  to  pray  for  us, 
etc. ||  Nowall  these  doctrines  were  believed  and 
taught  in  those  very  ages  in  which  the  Prot¬ 
estants  say  that  the  church  was  pure,  and  taught 
the  doctrines  of  the  apostles,  and  yet  the  Prot¬ 
estant  Church  will  not  teach  these  doctrines 
now,  but  quite  the  opposite.  For  example,  the 
Protestant  Church  teaches  that  there  are  only 
two  sacraments;  that  the  Lord's  Supper  is  noth¬ 
ing  but  bread  and  wine ;  that  the  Mass  is  idol¬ 
atry;  that  confession  of  sins  is  nothing  but 
priestcraft;  that  indulgences  give  a  license  to 
commit  sin ;  that  there  is  not  such  a  place  as 
purgatory  ;  that  we  must  not  pray  for  the  dead ; 
that  prayers  for  the  dead  can  do  no  good;  and 
lastly,  that  we  must  not  ask  the  saints  and  angels 
to  pray  for  us,  because  it  is  idolatry.  From  these 


*  St.  Cyril  Jems.  Catech.  Mysag.,  n.  67,  p.  297.  St.  Cyprian, 
Ep.  L.,  pp.  1,  2,  3. 

f  Tertullian  do  Penitent,  c.  9, 10, 11, 12.  St.  Cyprian  dc  Lapsis, 
p.  134.  St.  Augustin,  Ilomil.  L.  T.  10,  p.  178.  Ibid.  102-194. 

t  Council  of  Ancyra  in  314.  Council  of  Nice  in  323.  Council 
of  Carthage  in  398. 

§St.  Ephrem  of  Edcssa,  Testament  T.  3,  p.  294.  St.  Gregory 
of  Nyssa,  Orat.  de  Defunct.  T.  2,  p.  1066. 

||  St.  Ninus,  Tract  de  Orat.  c.  81,  T.  1.  St.  Hilary,  Comment. 
Psalm  126,  ibidem  129. 


.THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


91 


few  examples,  we  see  that  the  Protestant  Church 
does  not  teach  the  same  doctrines  that  were 
taught  in  the  first  five  ages ;  and  therefore  the 
doctrines  of  the  Protestant  Church  are  not  apos¬ 
tolical. 

III.  The  Protestant  Church  has  not  received 
her  orders  from  the  apostles,  or  their  lawful  suc¬ 
cessors  ;  and  therefore  her  parsons  are  no  priests, 
and  consequently  cannot  he  true  ministers  of  the 
Church  of  God.  The  Protestant  Church  could 
not  receive  her  orders  from  the  apostles  them¬ 
selves,  because  the  apostles  had  been  dead  for 
more  than  1500  years  before  there  was  either  a 
Protestant  bishop  or  parson  in  the  world.  2dly, 
She  has  not  received  her  orders  from  their  law¬ 
ful  successors,  but  from  one  Barlow,  who  had 
never  received  orders  himself,  “  for  this  Barlow 
wTas  never  made  bishop  by  even  any  pretended 
consecrator  whatever.  Nor  are  there  any  rec¬ 
ords  in  being  in  the  world,  that  give  the  least 
hint  of  his  ever  being  consecrated.”  *  Since, 
then,  Barlow  had  received  no  orders  from  the 
apostles,  or  their  lawful  successors,  it  is  vciy 
clear  that  Barlow  could  not  ordain  Parker,  on 
whom  must  be  built,  as  on  a  foundation,  the 
whole  episcopacy  and  priesthood  of  the  Prot¬ 
estant  Church  of  England,  because  he  could  not 
give  him  those  orders  which  he  himself  had  not 


*See  Ward’s  Controver.  of  Ordination. 


92 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 

received ;  therefore  the  Protestant  orders  are  not 
apostolical.  But,  supposing  that  Barlow  had  re¬ 
ceived  proper  orders,  still  he  could  not  give  them 
to  the  Protestant  Church,  because  they  made  use 
of  an  invalid  and  unlawful  ordinal  for  the  space 
of  110  years,  from  1552  till  1G62.  In  1662,  they 
made  a  new  ordinal;  but,  unfortunately,  there 
was  no  one  to  use  it;  because  during  110  years 
there  was  no  other  ordinal  in  being,  but  only 
that  made  by  King  Edward  VI.,  which  was  null 
and  invalid;  so  that  in  all  those  110  years,  there 
could  be  neither  priest  nor  bishop  made,  for  want 
of  a  valid  ordinal  to  ordain  them  by.  Conse¬ 
quently  there  could  not  be  one  bishop  in  the  whole 
Church  of  England  in  the  year  1662  to  consecrate 
others  by  the  new-made  ordinal,  therefore  there 
are  neither  bishops  nor  priests  in  the  Protestant 
Church  of  England.  Again,  the  Protestant  par¬ 
sons  are  no  priests,  for  another  reason :  when 
they  were  made  parsons  they  did  not  intend  to 
receive  the  power  of  offering  up  sacrifice, 
neither  did  the  bishops  intend  to  give  them  such 
power,  therefore  they  are  no  priests,  because  the 
very  essence  of  the  priesthood  consists  in  offer¬ 
ing  up  sacrifice,  without  which  power  no  man 
can  possibly  be  a  priest,  according  to  St.  Paul: 
For  every  priest  is  ordained  that  he  may  offer  up 
sacidfices  for  sins,  Ileb.  v.  1.  Such,  then,  being 
the  case,  let  ns  hear  what  Dodwell,  a  Protestant 
writer,  says,  “  that  where  there  is  no  episcopal 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


t 


93 


ordination,  there  is  no  ministry,  no  sacrament, 
no  church.  Men  are  out  of  the  covenant  of  grace 
and  hope  of  salvation.”  * 

IY.  The  Protestant  Church  has  not  received 
her  mission  from  the  apostles,  or  their  lawful 
successors,  and  therefore  she  has  no  power  to 
administer  the  sacraments,  or  to  preach  the  word 
of  God.  Here  you  must  observe,  that  orders 
and  mission,  or  jurisdiction,  arc  two  very  dif¬ 
ferent  things.  Orders  only  qualify  a  man,  and 
make  him  a  bishop  or  a  priest;  but  a  mission  or 
jurisdiction  gives  him  leave  and  power  to  make 
use  of  the  orders  which  he  lias  received;  and 
without  which  mission  no  bishop  or  priest  can 
lawfully  and  validly  exercise  over  others,  that 
power  which  they  may  possess.  So  necessary  is 
a  lawful  mission,  that  Christ  declares,  that  he 
himself  was  sent  by  his  Father,  and  he  hath  sent 
me,  John  vii.  29,  and  he  gave  a  commandment , 
what  I  should  sag,  and  what  I  should  speak,  John 
xii.  49,  and,  addressing  his  apostles,  he  says,  As 
my  Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  I  send  you,  John 
xx.  21,  go  ye  therefore  and  teach  all  nations,  Matt. 
xx:x.  19.  In  like  manner  the  apostles  sent  others 
after  them,  as  St.  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  sent 
by  the  pastors  of  the  church  at  Antioch;  and 
their  doing  so  was  declared  to  be  the  work  of 
the  Iloly  Ghost :  they  sent  them  away.  So  they 


*  Fletcher’s  Serm.  on  Moral  Sub.,  2d  vol.,  p.  294. 


94 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


being  sent  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  went  to  Sclucia,  Acts 
xiii.  3.  St.  Paul  sent  Titus,  and,  speaking  of  the 
apostles,  lie  says,  IIow  can  they  preach  unless  they 
be  sent ?  (Rom.  x.  15.)  St.  Clement,  whose  name 
is  written  in  the  Book  of  Life,  Phil.  iv.  3,  says, 
“  That  Christ  Jesus  received  his  mission  from 
God.  The  apostles  received  their  mission  from 
Christ.  And,  after  having  received  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  preached  the  Gospel,  they  established 
bishops  and  deacons,  to  whom  they  communicated 
the  charge  which  they  themselves  had  received 
from  God.  They  established  a  rule  of  succession 
for  futurity,  in  order  that  in  each  age,  at  the 
deaths  of  its  pastors,  their  office  and, ministry 
might  be  regularly  handed  down  to  others.”  * 
This,  then,  is  the  door  by  which  the  true  pastors 
of  Christ’s  flock  must  enter;  that  is,  they  must 
be  lawfully  ordained,  and  sent  by  the  lawful 
pastors  of  the  church,  who  have  received  valid 
orders  and  lawful  jurisdiction  from  the  lawful 
successors  of  the  apostles  of  Christ.  For  all  who 
take  the  priestly  office  upon  themselves,  without 
entering  by  this  door,  are  declared  by  Christ 
himself  to  be  thieves  and  robbers ,  John  x.  1. 
From  this  short  statement  you  will  sec  that  a 
man  must  have  a  lawful  mission  or  jurisdiction, 
as  well  as  orders,  before  lie  can  act  as  a  bishop 
or  priest.  Xotv  the  Protestant  parsons  have  no 


*  Epistle  1. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


95 


lawful  mission  whatever,  and  therefore  they  can¬ 
not  act  as  priests  in  the  Church  of  God.  In  the 
first  place,  they  have  not  been  from  the  days  of 
the  apostles,  and  therefore  the}'  could  not  receive 
their  mission  from  them.  In  the  second  place, 
we  know  from  history,  that  the  first  Protestants 
did  not  receive  any  mission  or  authority  what¬ 
ever  from  the  apostles  or  their  lawful  successors ; 
for  in  “  King  Henry’s  reign  they  preached  and 
ministered  in  spite  of  all  authority,  ecclesiastical 
and  civil.”  *  And  “  their  successors  in  the  reigns 
of  Edward  and  Elizabeth,  claim  their  whole  right 
and  mission  to  preach  and  administer,  from  the 
civil  power  only.”  f  Finally,  as  the  Protestant 
parsons  have  not  received  valid  orders,  it  follows, 
of  course,  that  they  cannot  have  a  lawful  mission, 
because  a  mission  without  orders  can  never  b'e 
given;  therefore,  they  run  ivithout  being  sent, 
Jerem.  xxiii.  21 ;  they  are  blind  leaders,  Matt, 
xv.  14;  and,  as  Mr.  Lesley  says  (speaking  of 
the  Dissenters),  “  they  have  thrust  themselves  as 
guides  upon  the  road  towards  heaven,  upon  their 
own  heads,  in  utter  contempt  and  opposition  to 
all  the  guides  of  God’s  appointment  from  the 
days  of  the  apostles;  whence  he  most  justly  con¬ 
cludes,  that  they  have  no  power  at  all  either  to 
preach  the  Gospel,  or  to  administer  the  holy  sac¬ 
rament,  which  God  has  instituted ;  no,  not  even 

*  Collier’s  Hist.,  Vol.  2,  p.  81. 

f  See  Oath  of  Sup.  and  Homages  of  Bishops,  etc. 


96 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


to  bless  in  TIis  name.”  *  Whereas  the  ministers 
of  the  Catholic  Church  are  in  a  very  different 
predicament. 

The  Catholic  Church  has  received  her  begin¬ 
ning,  her  doctrine,  her  orders,  and  her  mission 
from  the  apostles  of  Christ,  and  has  brought  the 
same  down  pure,  and  without  any  corruption,  to 
the  present  day. 

I.  That  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  had  its 
beginning  from  the  apostles,  we  can  easily  prove 
by  counting  up,  through  every  age,  a  regular 
succession  of  pastors.  In  the  fourth  century,  St. 
Optatus,  speaking  of  the  See  of  Rome,  says, 
“  that  in  this  one  chair  sat  Peter  I. ;  to  him  suc¬ 
ceeded  Linus;  to  him  Cletus  and  Clement,  and 
the  rest,  down  to  Siricius,  the  present  Pontiff, 
with  whom  we  and  all  the  world  hold  com¬ 
munion.  And  now,”  he  adds,  “  do  you  give  an 
account  of  your  Sees:  you  that  pretend  to  call 
yourselves  the  Catholic  Church.”  f  If  the  saint 
could  with  propriety  say  all  this,  when  he  could 
number  only  thirty-nines  Popes,  with  how  much 
more  reason  can  a  Roman  Catholic  in  these  days, 
when  lie  can  count  on  the  long  list  of  Popes, 
from  St.  Peter  down  to  Pope  Pius  IX.,  both 
included,  two  hundred  and  fifty-live,  exclaim, 
“Let  the  Protestants  show  us  anything  like  this! 
Let  them  show  us  the  list  of  their  bishops  suc- 

*Priv.  Judg.  and  Auth.,  p.  222. 

f  Contra.  Parmen.  L.  2. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


97 


ceeding'  each  other  in  a  regular  order,  from  the 
days  of  the  apostles  down  to  the  present  day!” 
Again,  the  calendars,  the  ancient  monuments  of 
the* state,  and  the  tombs  of  the  dead,  all  declare 
that  the  Catholic  religion  is  very  old,  and  flour¬ 
ished  long  before  the  Protestant  religion  had  any 
being  in  the  world  To  begin  with  the  division 
of  the  year  —  Christmas,  Candlemas,  Michael¬ 
mas,  Lady-dav,  Shrovetide,  Whitsuntide,  etc. — 
they  were  all  introduced  by  our  Catholic  fore¬ 
fathers.  Again:  if  we  go  into  the  old  churches 
and  lofty  cathedrals,  ^rnany  of  them  above  a 
thousand  years  old,  and  ask  them  if  they  were 
always  Protestant,  and,  if  the  mysteries  which 
they  once  saw  celebrated  there,  were  the  same 
as  those  which  the  Protestants  now  use?  No; 
reply  the  venerable  temples:  “  We  are  not  Prot¬ 
estant,  and  the  very  form  in  which  wo  were  built 
shows  that  we  were  built  for  the  performance  of 
other  mysteries  than  those  winch  at  present  we 
are  obliged  to  witness.”  Again:  let  us  go  to 
the  ruins  of  some  old  abbey,  and  ask  its  moul¬ 
dering  walls,  which  now  support  little  but  the 
mantling  ivy,  whose  hands  were  those  that  an¬ 
ciently  had  reared  these  stones  into  a  building? 
Who  were  the  men  that  lived  there?  Were  they 
Protestants?  Were  those  niches,  crosses,  and 
broken  statues  Protestant?  “  No,”  reply  the 
holy  ruins,  “we  are  not  Protestant;  and  it  is 
merely  because  we  were  not  Protestant,  that  the 
7 


98 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


anger  of  Protestants  has  reduced  us  to  this  heap 
of  ruins.”  These  are  the  answers  which  the 
monuments  will  give,  that  have  existed  more 
than  a  thousand  years.  They  all  proclaim  that 
the  Catholic  religion  is  very  ancient,  and  had  a 
footing  in  our  own  island,  long  before  the  Prot¬ 
estant  religion  was  ushered  into  the  Avorld 

II.  The  Homan  Catholic  Church  has  received 
her  doctrines  from  the  apostles,  as  the  Protestant 
Church  of  England  is  obliged  to  confess.  For 
“  during  the  first  five  hundred  years  the  Church 
was  pure ,  and  inviolabiytaught  the  faith  deliv¬ 
ered  by  the  apostles ;  ”  *  and  in  I.  Act  Eliz.  1,‘  the 
Protestant  Church  declares  that  the  first  four 
general  Councils  taught  the  doctrines  of  the 
apostles.  Now,  I  ask,  who  sat  in  these  four 
Councils?  Were  they  Protestants?  No;  for  at 
that  time  there  was  not  a  Protestant  in  the 
world.  Who  were  they?  They  were  all  Roman 
Catholics:  they  alone  sat  in  the  Councils,  and 
taught  the  doctrines  of  the  apostles;  and,  as  we 
can  prove  that  the  Catholic  Church  teaches  the 
very  same  doctrine  that  was  taught  in  those  four 
Councils,  then  it  follows,  of  course,  that  the 
Catholic  Church  received  her  doctrine  from  the 
apostles. 

III.  .The  Catholic  Church  has  received  her 
orders  from  the  apostles  and  their  lawful  suc- 


*  Whitaker  on  Antichrist,  p.  31. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


99 


cessors ;  therefore  her  ministers  are  true  priests 
in  the  Church  of  God.  Yes,  the  Catholic  clergy 
are  the  only  true  priests,  because  they  alone  have 
received  the  power  of  offering  up  sacrifice,  in 
which  the  very  essence  of  the  priesthood  consists, 
and  without  which  power  no  man  can  possibly 
be  a  priest,  according  to  St.  Paul,  where  he  says, 
“  Every  priest  is  ordained  that  he  may  offer  up 
sacrifices  for  sin ,”  Ileb.  i.  u  No  w  no  man  taketh 
the  honor  of  the  priesthood  to  himself Heb.  iv., 
neither  can  any  man  have  the  power  of  the 
priesthood,  unless  it  be  given  to  him  by  those 
who  have  the  power  to  give  it.  Thus  St.  Paul 
writes  to  Titus,  “  For  this  cause  I  have  left  thee  at 
Crete,  that  thou  shouldst  set  in  order  the  things  that 
are  wanting ;  and  shouldst  ordain  priests  in  every 
city,  as  I  also  appointed  thee,  Tit.  i.  5.  In  looking 
over  the  writings  of  the  Fathers,*  we  find  that 
the  apostles,  before  their  deaths,  gave  the  power 
which  they  had  received  from  Christ,  along  with 
their  bishoprics,  to  their  lawful  successors ;  and 
these  successors  gave  the  same  to  their  own  suc¬ 
cessors,  and  so  on  in  a  regular  line  down  to  the 
.  present  day.  Among  those  histories,  we  find 
the  apostolic  power,  which  Christ  gave  to  .St. 
Peter,  who  went  and  fixed  his  bishopric  at 
Pome,  where  he  left  his  see  and  powers  to  his 
lawful  successors.  These  have  come  down,  with 


*Irenasus,  Tertullian,  St.  Optatus,  and  St.  Austin. 


100 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


a  regular  succession,  to  the  present  Pope  Pius 
IX.,  with  whom  all  the  Catholic  bishops  and 
priests  in  the  world  hold  communion.  Now 
here  every  Catholic  priest  can  say  what  no  other 
minister  can  say  with  truth:  “The  Gospel  which 
I  preach,  and  the  holy  sacraments  which  I  ad¬ 
minister  to  the  faithful,  I  have  received  power  to 
preach  and  to  administer,  from  such  a  Catholic 
bishop,  who  was  consecrated  by  another  Catholic 
bishop;  and  so  on  in  a  regular  succession,  which 
reaches  up  to  the  apostles  themselves!  ” 

IV.  The  Catholic  Church  has  received  not 
only  her  orders  from  the  apostles,  but  also  Her 
mission  or  power  to  exercise  those  orders  in  the 
Church.  Thus  can  each  Catholic  priest  say  to 
his  flock:  “  I  am  sent  to  preach  the  Gospel,  and 
to  administer  the  sacraments  by  such  a  Catholic 
bishop,  who  received  authority  for  that  purpose, 
from  the  present  Pope,  who  is  a  lawful  successor 
of  St.  Peter,  in  the  Apostolic  See  of  Pome.” 

Q.  Must  not,  then,  the  Protestant  Church,  in¬ 
stead  of  leading  men  to  heaven,  infallibly  lead 
them  to  hell? 

A.  AVe  certainly  have  too  great  reason  to  ap¬ 
prehend  it,  particularly  when  we  consider  that 
Christ  has  made  two  things  necessary  to  salva¬ 
tion  :  namely,  true  faith  and  good  works ;  and,  as 
we  have  shown  before  that  the  Protestant  Church 
has  not  the  true  faith,  it  is  impossible  that  her 
works  can  save  her.  Again,  we  read  in  “  the 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


101 


Book  of  Common  Prayer,”  that  if  a  man  wishes 
to  save  his  soul,  he  must  believe  —  not  the  Prot¬ 
estant  Church,  but  the  Catholic ;  for  “  whosoever 
will  be  saved  before  all  things,  it  is  necessary 
that  he  hold  the  Catholic  faith.  Which  faith, 
except  every  one  doth  keep  whole  and  undefiled, 
without  doubt  he  shall  perish  everlastingly.”  * 
And  Dr.  Pearson,  a  Protestant  bishop,  says: 
“  The  necessity  of  believing  the  Catholic  Church 
appears  first,  in  this,  that  Christ  hath  appointed 
it  as  the  only  way  to  eternal  life.  We  read  at 
the  first  (Acts  ii.  27),  that  the  Lord  added  to  the 
Church  daily  such  as  should  be  saved;  and  what 
was  then  daily  done,  hath  been  done  since  con¬ 
tinually.  Christ  never  appointed  two  wTays  to 
heaven ;  nor  did  he  build  a  Church  to  save  some, 
and  make  another  institution  for  other  men’s 
salvation,”  Acts  iv.  12.  “  There  is  no  other  name 
under  heaven  given  among  men,  whereby  we 
must  be  saved,  but  the  name  of  Jesus ;  and  that 
name'  is  no  otherwise  given  under  heaven,  than 
in  the  (Catholic)  Church.  As  none  were  saved 
from  the  deluge  but  such  as  were  within  the  ark 
of  Noah,  framed  for  their  reception  by  the  com¬ 
mand  of  God ;  as  none  of  the  first-born  of  Egypt 
lived,  but  such  as  were  within  those  habitations 
whose  door-posts  were  sprinkled  with  blood,  by 
the  appointment  of  God,  for  their  preservation ; 


*  See  Creed  of  St.  Athanasius. 


102  A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 

\ 

as  uone  of  the  inhabitants  of  Jericho  could  es¬ 
cape  the  fire  or  sword  but  such  as  were  within 
the  house  of  Iialiab,  for  whose  protection  a  cov¬ 
enant  was  made,  so  none  shall  ever  escape  the 
eternal  wrath  of  God,  who  belong  not  to  the 
( Catholic )  Church  of  God.”*  Here  let  us  ex¬ 
claim,  with  a  holy  saint,  “  Come,  brethren,  our 
Protestant  friends,  if  it  be  your  wish  to  be  en- 
grafted  on  the  vine,  I  weep  to  see  you  as  you 
are,  lopped  off  from  its  sacred  stock.  Count  up 
the  Popes  in  the  chair  of  Peter,  and  in  that  order 
see  which  succeeded  which.  Conte — this  is  that 
rock,  over  which  the  proud  gates  of  hell  can 
never  prevail.  Come,  for  in  this  Church  alone 
you  will  find  the  greatest  security,  peace,  and 
comfort  for  every  sad  and  dejected  soul.”  It  is, 
therefore,  clear  that  the  Protestant  Church  can 
no  more  claim  this  mark  than  she  could  the  other 
three;  consequently,  she  is  neither  One,  Holy, 
Catholic,  nor  Apostolical,  and,  consequently, 
cannot  be  the  true  Church  of  Christ:  whilst,  on 
the  other  hand,  I  see  plainly  that  the  Catholic 
Church  is  truly  Apostolical ;  therefore,  she  has 
all  the  four  marks,  which  point  her  out  to  be  the 
true  Church.  From  all  that  has  been  said  con¬ 
cerning  the  marks  of  the  Church  of  God,  it  is 
most  clear  that  the  Roman  Catholic  alone  has 
the  fairest  claim  to  them  all. 


*  Expos,  of  the  Creed,  Edit.  1609. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


103 


DIALOGUE  VI. 

On  some  of  the  Pretended  Errors  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church. 

Q.  But,  then,  clo  not  the  Protestants  say  that 
the  Catholic  religion  has  fallen  into  many  errors? 

A.  It  has  always  been  the  practice  of  schis¬ 
matics  and  heretics  to  vilify  and  belie  their 
mother  Church,  and  the  Protestants,  of  course, 
will  say  many  strange  things  about  the  Catholic 
religion ;  but  they  cannot  prove  that  she  has  ever 
fallen  into  ONE  error;  for  all  these  pretended 
errors,  when  they  come  to  be  examined,  are 
found  to  be  nothing  but  the  lies  of  her  enemies ; 
the  fact  is,  the  Protestants  do  not  understand  the 
Catholic  religion,  and  therefore,  as  the  apostle 
St.  Jude  observes,  they  will  be  speaking  evil  of 
those  things  which  they  know  not ,  Jude  i.  10. 

Q.  Is  it  not  an  error,  to  say  with  Catholics, 
that  the  Bible  is  not  a  sufficient  rule  of  faith? 

A.  No ;  the  Catholics  respect  the  Bible  as  the 
Word  of  God,  and  own  it  to  be  the  greatest  au¬ 
thority,  and  that  it  is  capable  of  leading  a  man 
to  all  truth,  when  it  is  rightly  understood.  But 
they  believe,  that  the  Bible  alone,  as  liable  to  be 
misunderstood  by  any  private  person,  is  not  a 
sufficient  rule  of  faith,  and  therefore  cannot  in¬ 
fallibly  lead  a  man  to  the  kingdom  of  God.  In 
fact,  that  the  Bible  alone  is  not  a  sufficient  rule, 


104 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


good  sense  will  easily  show.  For,  in  the  first 
place,  if  a  man  is  to  build  his  religion  on  the 
Bible,  just  as  he  himself  understands  it,  he  must 
know,  and  be  quite  sure  of,  six  things.  1st,  lie 
must  know,  that  the  book  which  he  holds  in  his 
hand  is  the  real  and  true  Bible.  2dly,  That  he 
has  the  whole  of  the  Bible.  3dly,  That  the  Bible 
is  inspired.  4thly,  That  the  Bible  is  not  cor¬ 
rupted.  5thly,  That  he  can  understand  it.  Ctlily, 
That  it  contains  all  things  necessary  to  salvation. 

I.  lie  must  know  that  the  book  which  he 
holds  in  his  hand  is  the  real  and  true  Bible. 
Now  this  no  Protestant  can  know  by  his  own 
private  judgment,  because  the  Bible  is  nothing 
but  a  book,  or  dead  letter,  which  cannot  give 
evidence  to  itself.*  Besides,  it  is  agreed  upon 
amongst  the  learned,  that  together  with  the  tem¬ 
ple  aiid  city  of  Jerusalem,  the  Bible  written  by 
the  hand  of  Moses,  and  the  ancient  prophets,  was 
destroyed  by  the  Assyrians,  under  Nebuchad¬ 
nezzar.  f  And  though  the  Bible  was  replaced  by 
a  true  copy,  at  the  end  of  the  Babylonish  captiv¬ 
ity,  through  the  care  of  the  prophet  Ezra,  yet 
this  copy  was  also  destroyed  in  the  following 
persecution  of  Antiochus.J  Therefore  a  person, 
by  his  own  private  judgment,  cannot  tell  whether 
he  has  the  true  and  real  Bible  or  not. 

*IIook.  Eccles.  Polit.  b.  iii.,  c.  8. 

t  Brett’s  Dissert.  Bishop  Watson’s  Collection,  Vol.  III.,  p.  5. 

JIbid. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


105 


II.  When  a  Protestant  has  got  a  Bible,  he 
must  be  sure  that  no  part  of  it  was  lost,  because 
if  any  part  of  the  Bible  is  wanting,  then  he  has 
got  only  a  part,  and  not  all  the  Word  of  God. 
Now  I  can  show  the  Protestant,  that  many  parts 
of  the  Bible  are  wanting.  For  a  learned  author 
proves,  that  no  less  than  twenty  books  are  quite 
lost !  *  If  you  doubt  what  I  say,  go  and  look  in 
vour  Bible  for  some  of  the  following  texts :  — 
Num.  xxi.  14,  It  is  said  in  the  book  of  the  Wars  of 
the  Lord.  Where  is  this  book?  Joshua  x.  13, 
Is  not  this  written  in  the  Ijook  of  Jashar  ?  Now,  I 
ask  the  Protestant,  where  is  this  book  of  Jashar? 
I.  Samuel  x.  25,  Then  Samuel  told  the  people  the 
manner  of  the  kingdom ,  and  wrote  it  in  a  book ,  and 
laid  it  before  the  Lord.  This  is  lost.  Again :  I. 
Kings  iv.  32, Solomon  spoke  three  thousand  prov¬ 
erbs ,  and  his  sojiqs  were  one  thousand  and  five. 
Where  are  all  these  proverbs  and  songs?  Again : 
I.  Chron.  xxix.  29,  The  acts  of  David,  first  and 
last,  are  written  in  the  books  of  Samuel  the  seer, 
and  the  book  of  Nathan  the  prophet,  and  the  book 
of  Gad  the  seer.  Where  are  the  hooks  of  these 
two  latter  prophets?  Again:  II.  Chron.  ix.  29, 
Are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of  Nathan  the 
prophet,  and  in  the  prophecy  of  Abijah  the  Shilon- 
ite,  and  in  the  visions  of  Iddo  the  seer  ?  These 
books  are  all  lost.  In  the  xii.  15,  are  they  not 


*Contzen,  Preface  upon  the  Four  Gospels. 


106 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


written  in  the  book  of  Shemeiah  the  prophet,  and  in 
Iddo  the  seer ,  concerning  genealogies  ?  These  are 
lost  also.  In  the  xiii.  22,  Ilis  ways  and  his  say¬ 
ings  are  written  in  the  story  of  the  prophet  Iddo. 
This  book  is  lost.  In  the  xx.  34,  They  are  written 
in  the  book  of  Jehu.  Ariel  in  the  xxxiv.  3,  They 
are  written  among  the  sayings  of  the  seers.  Lastly, 
St.  Paul  wrote  three  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians. 
The  lirst  is  lost.  For  in  that  which  we  call  the 
1st  Cor.  ix.,  St.  Paul  says,  I  wrote  to  you  in  an 
Egoistic.  Where  is  this  Epistle  which  he  wrote 
to  them?  Again,  St.  Paul  commands  to  be  read 
in  the  Church  the  Epistle  from  Laodicea,  and 
that  ye  likewise  read  the  Epistle  from  Laodicea, 
Colossians,  iv.  16.  This  is  lost.  And  there  are 
also  many  things  which  Jesus  did,  the  ivhich,  if  they 
should  be  written  every  one,  I  suppose  that  even  the 
world  itself  could  not  contain  the  books  that  should 
be  written,  John,  xx.  25.  St.  Justin,  writing 
against  Tryphon,  says,  “The  Jews  made  away 
with  many  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  that  the 
New  might  not  seem  to  agree  with  it.”  There¬ 
fore  the  Protestant  has  not  got  the  whole  of  the 
Bible,  but  only  a  small  part  of  the  Word  of  God. 

III.  lie  must  know  that  the  Bible  is  inspired, 
which  no  Protestant  can  do  by  his  own  private 
judgment.  For  where  does  the  Bible  inform  us 
that  Moses  was  inspired  when  he  wrote  it?  Or 
that  the  apostles  were  inspired  when  they  wrote 
the  Gospel?  They  were  by  nature  men  liable  to 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


107 


error,  and  how  can  a  Protestant  find .  out  that 
they  were  infallible  writers? 

IV.  A  Protestant  must  be  sjire  that  his  Bible 
is  not  corrupted,  but  that  it  is,  word  for  word, 
just  as  it  came  from  the  pens  of  the  writers. 
This  he  cannot  do  by  his  own  private  judgment. 
For  the  Bible  was  written  in  Hebrew,  Greek, 
and  Latin,  and  therefore  it  is  not  in  the  same 
language  in  which  it  was  written.  The  Bibles 
that  were  translated  into  English  by  Tindal, 
Coverdale,  and  Queen  Elizabeth's  bishops,  were 
so  abominably  corrupted  as  to  cause  a  general 
outcry  against  them  by  some  of  the  most  learned 
Protestants,  in  which  King  James  I.  joined.* 
“  In  TindaFs  Bible,  Bishop  Tunstel  noted  no 
less  than  two  thousand  corruptions,  in  his  trans¬ 
lation  of  the  New  Testament.”  f  Mr.  Broughton, 
a  learned  Protestant,  wrote  to  the  Lords  of  the 
Council  to  beg  for  a  new  translation ;  “for,”  says 
he,  “  that  which  is  now  in  England  is  full  of 
errors.”  And  he  tells  the  bishops,  “  that  their 
public  translation  of  the  Scripture  into  English 
is  such  that  it  perverts  the  text  of  the  Old  Tes¬ 
tament  in  eight  hundred  and  forty-eight  places, 
and  that  it  causes  many  to  reject  the  New  Tes¬ 
tament,  and  to  run  into  eternal  flames.”  X  Sta- 
phylus  found  in  Martin  Luther’s  New  Testament 

*  Bishop  Watson’s  Collect.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  98. 

f  Table  of  certain  places  Rhenish  Testa, 

\  Triple  Chord,  p.  14. 


108 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


alone  about  one  thousand  corruptions;  and,  in  a 
petition  to  King  James  I.,  it  is  asserted  “that 
the  translation  of* the  Psalms  comprised  in  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  doth,  in  addition,  sub- 
traction  and  alteration,  differ  from  the  truth  of 
the  Hebrew  in  at  least  two  hundred  places.”  * 
Only  look  at  Psalm  xiv.  in  the  Protestant  Bible, 
and  you  will  find  four  whole  verses  in  the  Prayer 
Book  which  are  left  out  of  the  Bible.  If  these 
four  verses  are  Scripture,  why  are  they  left  out 
Of  the  Bible?  And  if  they  are  not  Scripture, 
why  do  t  lie  Protestants  mark  them  down  as  such 
in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer?  The  plain 
truth  is,  that  the  Protestant  Church  has  corrupted 
the  Word  of  God,  by  either  adding  to,  or  taking 
aw ag  from,  the  words  of  this  prophecy . 

V.  lie  must  be  sure  that  he  can  understand 
it  by  his  own  private  judgment.  Now  this  no 
Protestant  can  do;  for  the  Bible  'says,  that  no 
prophecy  of  Scripture  is  of  any  private  interpreta¬ 
tion,  II.  Peter  i.  20,  and  that  in  St.  Paul’s  epistles 
there  are  some  things  hard  to  be  understood,  which 
they  that  are  unlearned  and  unstable  ivrest,  as  they 
do  also  the  other  Scriptures,  unto  their  own  destruc¬ 
tion,  iii.  16.  Now  if  the  Bible  is  so  very  easy  to 
be  understood,  how  conies  it  that  the  unlearned 
mistake  the  true  sense,  and  by  so  doing  procure 
their  own  damnation?  The  disciples  going  to 


*  Petr.  pp.  75,  79. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


109 


Emmaus  did  not  understand  the  Bible  till  Christ 
himself  explained  it  to  them ;  neither  did  the 
eunuch  of  Ethiopia,  for  Philip  said  to  him,  Dost 
thou  understand  what  thou  readest  ?  And  he  said , 
How  can  I,  except  some  one  show  me?  (Acts  viii. 
31.)  Again,  if  the  Bible  is  so  very  clear,  how 
comes  it  that  scarcely  two  Protestants  under* 
stand  any  one  text  of  the  Bible  in  the  same 
sense?  For  example,  the  Protestants  have  enu¬ 
merated  no  fewer  than  thirty-six  different  opin¬ 
ions  (of  their  holy  apostle,  Luther)  on  the’  single 
article  of  the  Eucharist,  in  these  few  words,* 
u  this  is  my  body ,”  which  seems  very  easy  to  be 
understood.  There  are  among  the  Sectaries  no 
less  than  eighty  different  interpretations  put  on 
these  words !  f  Again,  I  would  ask  the  Prot¬ 
estant  how  he  understands  the  following  texts: 
Call  no  man  father  upon  earth ,  neither  be  you 
called  masters,  for  one  is  your  master,  Christ, 
Matt,  xxiii.  9,  10.  If  any  man  sue  thee  at  law,  to 
take  away  thy  coat,  let  him  have  thy  cloak  also,  46. 
Give  to  every  man  that  asketh  of  thee ;  and  of  him 
that  taketh  away  thy  goods  ask 'him  not  again,  Luke 
vi.  33.  When  thou  makest  a  dinner  or  a  supper, 
call  not  thy  friends,  nor  thy  brethren,  xiv.  12. 
Hundreds  of  seeming  contradictions  occur  in 
Scripture,  which  show  that  the  Bible  of  itself  is 
not  clear,  even  with  regard  to  our  moral  duties ; 

*  Catholic  Manual,  Intro.,  p.  82. 

t  Collet.  Dogma,  Vol.  II.,  p.  520. 


no 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


and  hence  a  great  saint  and  scholar  exclaims, 
“  there  are  more  things  in  Scripture  that  I  am 
ignorant  of,  than  those  I  know.”* 

VI.  A  Protestant  must  know  that  the  Bible 
contains  all  tilings  necessary  to  salvation.  Now 
this  no  man  can  know  by  his  own  private  judg¬ 
ment;  for  in  what  chapter,  or  in* what  verse, 
docs  the  Bible  say  clearly  that  just  such  and  such 
things  are  necessary  to  salvation,  and  that  we 
must  believe  and  do  nothing  more?  On  the 
other  hand,  I  can  tell  you,  that  a  man  must  be¬ 
lieve  and  do  many  things  which  are  nowhere  in 
plain  terms  contained  in  the  Bible.  This  is  con¬ 
firmed  by  Montague,  a  Protestant  bishop,  where 
he  says,  that  “  there  are  six  hundred  particulars 
instituted  by  God  in  the  point  of  religion,  com¬ 
manded  and  used  in  the  Church,  of  which  we 
own,  that  the  Scripture  delivers  or  teaches  no 
such  thing.”  f  In  the  first  place,  a  man  must 
believe  “  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  neither  made 
nor  begotten,  but  does  proceed,  and  that  from 
the  Father  and  Son.  And  that  he  who  will  be 
saved  must  believe  this.  For  this  is  an  article 
of  the  Catholic  faith,  which,  except  a  man  be¬ 
lieve  faithfully  and  steadfastly,  lie  cannot  be 
saved.”  f  Again,  to  baptize  little  children  is 
nowhere  mentioned  in  the  Bible;  and  yet,  if 
they  die  without  baptism,  they  cannot  be  saved. 


*St.  Aug.  Ep.  a  Januar. 
t  Creed  of  St.  Athanasius. 


f  Origen. 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


Ill 


Lastly,  the  keeping  holy  the  Sunday  is  a  thing 
absolutely  necessary  to  salvation,  and  yet  this  is 
nowhere  put  down  in  the  Bible;  on  the  con¬ 
trary,  the  Bible  says,  Remember  the  Sabbath-day 
to  keep  it  holy ,  Exod.  xx.  8,  which  is  Saturday , 
and  not  Sunday;  therefore  the  Bible  does  not 
contain  all  things  necessary  to  salvation,  and, 
consequently,  cannot  be  a  sufficient  rule  of  faith. 
Now  here  let  me  ask  a  Protestant,  can  he  with 
safetv  trust  his  salvation  to  a  mere  book,  which 
he  cannot  prove  to  be  the  Word  of  God ;  a  book 
which  he  cannot  understand;  a  book  which  the 
unlearned  and  unstable  read  to  their  own  dam¬ 
nation  ;  a  book  that  has  lost  many  of  its  parts ; 
a  book  which  is  most  shamefully  corrupted,  and 
which  does  not  contain  all  things  necessary  to 
salvation?  No;  the  Almighty  never  intended 
that  every  man  should  make  his  own  religion 
out  of  the  Bible,  else  he  would  never  have  estab¬ 
lished  a  Church,  and  commanded  all  to  hear  and 
obey  the  same,  under  pain  of  eternal  damnation, 
Matt,  xviii.  16;  Mark  xvi.  16. 

Q.  But  does  not  the  Catholic  Church  forbid 
the  people  to  read  the  Bible  in  English? 

A.  No ;  the  Catholic  Church  wishes  the  people 
to  read  the  Bible;  but  then  it  must  be  a  true 
copy,  and  not  the  Protestant  one,  "which  is  false 
and  corrupt ;  and,  moreover,  they  mTist  read  it 
with  due  submission  to  the  Catholic  Church,  to 
whom  alone  the  privilege  belongs  to  give  the 


112 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


true  meaning  of  the  Bible.  The  Catholic  Church, 
so  far  from  undervaluing  the  Bible,  had  pre¬ 
served  it  pure  for  fifteen  hundred  years  before 
the  Protestants  had  existence ;  and  she  has  con¬ 
firmed  many  of  her  most  solemn  decrees  from 
its  sacred  text.  She  ha's  composed  her  prayers, 
her  catechisms,  and  her  liturgy  out  of  the  Holy 
Bible.  Finally,  she  commands  her  pastors, 
whose  business  it  is  to  instruct  the  faithful,  to 
read  and  to  study  the  Bible  without  intermission, 
knowing  that  all  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration 
of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof , 
for  correction,  for  instruction  in  7'ighteousness.  — 
II.  Tim.  iii. 

Q.  But  do  not  Catholics  pray  to  images,  and 
worship  wooden  gods? 

fi.  No;  they  do  not  pray  to  images,  neither 
do  they  worship  wooden  gods.  “  The  Catholic 
faith  and  practice  is,  to  worship  One  God  in 
Trinity,  and  Trinity  in  Unity;  ”  and  the  Catholic 
catechism  says,  “  that  wo  must  not  pray  to 
images,  for  they  have  no  life  nor  sense  to  hear 
or  to  help  11s.” 

Q.  Does  not  the  Bible  say,  Thou  shall  not  make 
to  thyself  any  graven  image,  nor  the  likeness  of  any¬ 
thing.  Thou  shall  not  bow  down  thyself  to  them, 
nor  worship  them,  Exod.  xx.  4,  o. 

A.  No;  Protestants  indeed  read  in  their  Bible, 
any  graven  image ,  but  it  ought  to  be  a  graven 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


113 


thing ;  *  thus  the  Word  of  God  itself  is  corrupted 
to  make  the  ignorant  people  believe  that  the 
Catholics  are  idolators,  because  they  have  im¬ 
ages,  and  that  the  Protestants  are  innocent, 
though  they,  likewise,  have  images  at  home; 
nay,  even  in  their  churches  they  have  the  absurd 
figures  of  the  lion  and  the  unicorn,  stretching 
their  paws  over  the  tables  of  the  law,  instead  of 
the  pious  picture  of  our  Saviour  expiring  on  the 
cross.  How  absurd  is  their  conduct  in  this  re¬ 
spect!  They  are  scandalized  at  the  Catholics  for 
having  images  in  their  chapels,  and  at  the  same 
time  take  no  notice  of  the  senseless  images  in 
their  own  church,  like  the  Lamian  witches, 
who,  at  home,  could  see  nothing,  and  from  home, 
could  see  everything.  What,  therefore,  is  the 
true  meaning  of  this  commandment?  It  forbids 
us  to  make  a  graven  thing,  to  be  worshipped  or 
prayed  to ;  that  is,  it  forbids  us  to  make  them 
our  gods,  or  to  give  them  any  honor  whatsoever 
that  belongs  to  God.  But  this  commandment 
does  not  forbid  to  make  an  image  for  ornament, 
etc.,  because  after  the  commandment  was  given, 
God  himself  commanded  Moses  to  make  images 
—  two  cherubims  of  gold  —  Exod.  xxv.  18,  and 
place  them  upon  the  ark;  and  from  between 
these  two  images,  the  Lord  would  give  his  ordi¬ 
nances  to  Moses,  22,  and  Bezaleel  made  two  clier - 

*Pesel,  eidolon,  glupton,  and  sculptile,  in  the  Hebrew,  Greek, 
and  Latin,  denote  a  graven  thing,  or  idol. 

6 


114 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


ubims  of  gold ,  and  put  them  on  the  two  ends  of  the 
mercy-seat,  Exod.  xxxvii.  7.  After  this,  the  Lord 
commanded  Moses  to  make  another  image:  And 
the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  make  thee  a  fiery  serpent 
—  and  Moses  made  a  serpent  of  brass,  and  pid  it 
upon  a  pole ;  and  it  came  to  pass,  that  if  a  serpent 
had  bitten  any  man,  when  he  beheld  the  serpent  of 
brass,  he  lived,  Numb.  xxi.  8,  9.  Afterwards, 
when  the  tabernacle  came  to  be  placed  in  God’s 
temple,  the  temple  itself  had  graven  cherubims  on 
the  wall.  And  in  the  most  holy  house  he  made  two 
cherubims  of  image  work  —  and  they  stood  on  their 
feet,  and  their  faces  ivere  inward.  And  he  made 
the  veil  of  blue,  and  purple,  and  crimson,  and  fine 
linen,  and  wrought  cherubim  thereon,  II.  Chron. 

iii.  7,  10,  13,  14.  Also,  he  made  a  molten  sea  — 
and  two  rows  of  oxen  ivere  cast,  when  it  was  cast , 
and  it  stood  upon  twelve  images  of  oxen,  II.  Chron. 

iv.  2,  3,  4.  And  in  the  borders  thereof  he  graved 
cherubims,  lions,  and  palm-trees,  I.  Kings,  vii.  36. 
Again,  the  king’s  throne  was  surrounded  with 
images,  and  two  lions  stood  beside  the  stays,  and 
twelve  lions  stood  there  —  upon  the  six  steps,  x.  19, 
20.  The  prophet  Ilosea,  where  he  laments  the 
desolation  of  the  temple,  also  laments  the  want 
of  images.  For  the  children  of  Israel  shall  abide 
many  days  without  a  sacrifice  and  without  an 
image,  Ilosea,  iii.  4.  Moreover,  we  read  in  his¬ 
tory,  that  the  woman  who  was  cured  by  our 
Divine  Saviour,  Matt.  ix.  20,  went  and  made 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


115 


images  of  Christ,  and  herself  kneeling  at  his 
feet;  and  she  placed  them  before  the  door  of  her 
house  in  CaBserea  Phillippi;  and  an  herb  sprang 
out  at  the  foot  of  them,  and  grew  for  many 
years,  which  cured  them  that  had  the  same 
disorder. 

Q.  But  is  it  not  wrong  for  Catholics  to  bow 
down  before  images?  for  the  Bible  says,  thou 
shcilt  not  bow  down  thyself  to  them,  Exod.  xx.  5. 

A.  Neither  does  the  Word  of  God  say,  thou 
shall  not  bow  down  thyself  to  them ,  but  thou  shall 
not  adore  them.  If  it  is  not  lawful  for  Catholics 
to  bow  down  in  their  chapels,  how  comes  it  to  be 
lawful  for  Protestants  to  bow  down  themselves 
when  they  enter  their  churches?  Again,  wThy  do 
Protestants  suffer  beggars  to  bow  down  at  their 
doors  for  a  morsel  of  bread?  Their  little  chil¬ 
dren  bow  down  before  the  rich ;  and  all  the 
Protestants  bow  down  before  the  Lord’s  Supper, 
as  they  call  it,  and  even  to  an  empty  chair,  in 
order  to  show  their  respect  and  veneration  to  an 
earthly  king;  how  much  more  lawful  is  it  for 
Catholics  to  bow  down  before  a  crucifix,  in  order 
to  show  their  respect  and  veneration  to  Jesus 
Christ,  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords,  at 
the  very  sound  of  whose  name  every  knee  shall 
bow  of  things  on  earth,  and  things  under  the  earth ? 
(Phil.  ii.  10.) 

Q.  If  all  this  be  true,  is  it  not  very  wrong  in 


116 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


Protestants  to  tell  such  lies  of  the  Catholic 
Church? 

A.  If  these  were  the  only  lies,  they  would 
have  less  to  answer  for ;  but,  alas !  it  always  has 
been,  and  still  is,  the  practice  of  the  Protestants 
to  belie  every  part  of  the  Catholic  doctrine.  To 
refute  all  their  calumnies  and  misrepresentations 
would  require  a  large  volume ;  I  therefore  take 
leave  to  recommend  to  Protestants  to  read  Dr. 
Milner’s  End  to  Religious  Controversy,  or  to 
consult  some  Catholic  priest,  from  whom  they 
will  have  an  answer  to  all  the  objections  that 
ignorance  or  malice  may  suggest. 

In  the  beginning  of  our  discourse,  I  showed 
you  that  the  Son  of  God  came  from  heaven  to 
teach  mankind  a  religion  which  was  most  pleas¬ 
ing  to  himself,  and  which  he  commanded  to  be 
received,  to  be  believed,  and  to  be  professed 
throughout  the  whole  world.  This  command 
was  so  express,  that  he  pronounces  a  curse 
against  all  those  who  should  reject  it;  he  that 
believes  shall  not  be  damned ,  Mark  vi.  16.  He 
commissioned  his  apostles  to  preach  the  same 
doctrine,  and  they  used  their  utmost  endeavors 
to  convince  mankind  of  the  necessity  of  submit¬ 
ting  to  it;  for  St.  Paul  says,  that  there  is  but  one 
Lord,  one  Faith,  ohe  Baptism,  Ephes.  iv.  5.  The 
successors  of  the  apostles  have,  in  every  age, 
continued  to  teach  the  same,  and  to  hold  fast  the 
form  of  sound  words,  II.  Tim.  i.  13,  delivered 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


117 


down  to  them  from  the  aiiostles  by  their  pre¬ 
decessors.  And  in  order  to  preserve  this  doctrine 
pure  throughout  all  ages,  and  free  from  errors, 
our  Saviour  promised  to  his  apostles,  and  their 
lawful  successors,  that  he  himself  would  always 
abide  with  them,  and,  moreover,  that  he  would 
send  them  another  comforter,  even  the  Holy 
Ghost,  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  to  guide  them  into 
all  truth,  and  continue  with  them  forever.  Be¬ 
hold ,  says  he,  Matt,  xxviii.  20, 1  am  with  you  all 
days ,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world.  And,  John  xvi. 
16,  17,  I. will  ask  the  Father,  and  he  ivill  give  you 
another  comforter,  that  he  may  abide  with  you  for¬ 
ever,  the  Spirit  of  Truth.  It  is  in  consequence  of 
these  promises,  that  St.  Paul  calls  the  Church  of 
God  the  pillar  and  support  of  truth,  I.  Tim.  iii. 
15.  And  our  Saviour  having  thus  promised  to 
support,  assist,  and  direct  his  Church  and  its 
pastors,  said  to  them :  He  that  heareth  you  heareth 
me,  and  he  that  despiseth  you  despiseth  me,  and  he 
that  despiseth  me  despiseth  him  that  sent  me,  Luke 
x.  16.  But  notwithstanding  the  express  com¬ 
mand  of  Christ  for  preserving  his  faith  always 
the  same,  notwithstanding  the  constant  endeav¬ 
ors  of  his  ministers  to  teach  and  maintain  this 
same  faith,  yet  many  men  full  of  pride  and  self- 
conceit,  and  impatient  of  subjection,  have  denied 
that  Christ  has  fulfilled  his  promise;  they  have 
therefore  departed  from  the  Church  of  Christ, 
and  from  the  unity  of  Faith ;  and  by  abounding 


118 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


in  their  own  sense,  and  following  the  vicious 
inclinations  of  their  own  hearts,  have  made 
multitudes  of  different  religions,  and  bewildered 
themselves  in  labyrinths  of  error.  Thus  fulfil¬ 
ling  St.  Paul's  words,  where  he  says,  The  time 
will  come  when  they  will  not  endure  sound  doctrine; 
but  after  their  own  lusts  shall  they  heap  to  them¬ 
selves  teachers  having  itching  cars :  and  they  shall 
turn  away  their  eyes  from  the  truth ,  and  shall  be 
turned  unto  fables,  II.  Tim.  iv.  3,  4.  But,  thanks 
be  to  God,  amidst  all  those  mulitudes  of  different 
religions,  and  jarring  sects  of  Protestants  —  the 
Unitarians,  Calvinists,  Methodists,  Presbyterians, 
Kilhamites,  Jumpers,  Dunkers,  Banters,  etc., 
etc.  —  you  can  easily  find  out  the  true  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ,  by  following  the  rules  which  have 
been  laid  down  in  this  small  treatise.  But  then 
you  must  bring  along  with  you  the  following 
dispositions:  a  spirit  of  piety,  begg'iifg' of  the 
Lord  to  put  you  right,  if  you  are  wrong;  a 
spirit  of  innocence  and  purity;  and  a  spirit  of 
humility  and  candor.  With  these  dispositions, 
examine  the  subject  well,  for  no  security  can  be 
too  great  where  eternity  is  at  stake.  And  oh! 
remember  that  the  unbelieving  shall  have  their 
portion  . in  the  pool  burning  with  fire  and  brimstone, 
ivhich  is  the  second  death,  Bev.  xxi.  8.  Ah!  this 
it  is  that  makes  the  True  Beligion  of  so  great 
importance,  in  order  that  we  may  escape  that 
miserable  eternity  into  which  the  unbelieving  are 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


119 


to  be  cast  forever;  to  suffer  all  those  dreadful 
torments  which  are  described  in  the  Word  of 
God ;  and  this  for  no  term  of  years,  but  for  as 
many  hundred  thousand  millions  of  ages  as  there 
are  drops  of  water  in  the  ocean,  or  atoms  in  the 
air ;  in  a  word,  for  a  never-ending  eternity. 


120 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


THE  MOTIVES  UPON  WHICH  THE  NEW  RELIGION 
WAS  BROUGHT  IN. 


It  is  a  great  argument  in  favor  of  Christianity, 
that  (as  we  find  by  all  the  circumstances  of  its 
first  establishment)  neither  ambition,  avarice, 
passion,  or  lust,  or  any  other  branch  of  self-love 
had  any  share  in  that  work,  either  by  influencing 
the  first  teachers  of  the  Christian  religion,  or 
their  first  converts  and  followers,  and  that  neither 
the  one  nor  the  other  had  any  honor,  interest,  or 
pleasure  to  expect  in  this  world  from  embracing 
a  religipn  which  exposed  them  to  the  utter  loss 
of  all  this  world  could  give.  But  the  case  was 
quite  otherwise  with  regard  to  the  pretended 
Reformation ,  where  both  the  reformers  and  the 
reformed  had  so  many  human  considerations  to 
bias  them  in  the  choice  of  the  new  religion,  that 
we  cannot  help  suspecting  their  motives  were 
not  pure.  As  for  the  preachers  of  the  Reformat  ion, 
they  began  the  work  by  giving  a  loose  to  their 
incontinence,  by  breaking  through  their  solemn 
vows  made  to  God,  by  casting  off  their  monastic 
discipline,  by  laying  aside  their  canonical  hours 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


121 


of  prayer,  their  regular  fasts,  etc. — Was  all  this 
for  God’s  sake?  They  gave  up,  to  the  great  ones 
of  this  world,  all  the  rights  and  possessions  of 
the  Church,  and  by  this  means  kept  them  close 
to  their  interests;  not  to  say  that  they  have 
gained  over  whole  kingdoms  (as  Sweden  and 
Denmark)  by  gratifying  the  avarice  of  the  kings.* 
Is  it  likely  that  these  princes  and  great  ones  had 
no  other  views  in  seizing  upon  church  lands,  and 
improving  their  estates  at  the  expense  of  relig¬ 
ion,  than  the  greater  glory  of  God?  The  people 
also  were  inveigled  by  these  new  gospellers,  by 
that  Christian  liberty,  which  they  so  much 
preached  up;  a  liberty  which  exempted  them 
from  all  obligation  of  church  laws,  from  fasting, 
confession,  penitential  austerities,  etc.  A  liberty 
of  contradicting  their  church  guides,  and  disbe¬ 
lieving  whatever  they  please  in  the  difficult  mys¬ 
teries  of  faith.  In  fine,  a  liberty  which  reduced 
all  to  faith  alone,  divesting  good  works  of  all 
merit,  and  giving  up  the  keeping  of  God’s  com¬ 
mandments  as  a  thing  impossible.  Is  there  any¬ 
thing  in  all  this  that  can  serve  to  convince  an 
impartial  judge  that  either  the  teachers  or  fol¬ 
lowers  of  such  a  Reformation  had  no  intentions 
or  motives  but  what  were  pure  and  good? 

But  to  leave  the  other  branches  of  the  Refor¬ 
mation,  in  which  our  countrymen  think  them- 


*See  Heylin’s  Cosmog.,  2d  edit.,  pp.  401,  4S4. 


122 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


selves  less  concerned,  and  to  coniine  our  consid¬ 
eration  to  the  Reformation  of  England,  such  as  it 
is  represented  by  historians  of  its  own  com¬ 
munion,  we  shall  scarce  find  one  step  taken 
towards  that  grand  revolution  in  religion,  but 
what  was  visibly  influenced  by  some  irregular 
motive. 

The  first  step  that  was  made  in  this  work  was 
the  divesting  the  Pope  of  his  authority  in  this 
realm;  and,  upon  what  motive  this  was  brought 
about,  Dr.  Ileylin  informs  us,  in  the  jireface  to 
the  History  of  the  Reformation  :  u  King  Henry,” 
says  he,  “  being  violently  hurried  with  the  trans¬ 
port  of  some  private  affections,  and,  finding  that 
the  Pope  appeared  the  greatest  obstacle  to  his 
designs,  he  first  divested  him  by  degrees  of  his 
supremacy.  This  opened  the  first  way  to  the 
Reformation ,  to  which  the  king  afforded  no  small 
countenance  out  of  politic  ends.” 

This  first  step  was  followed  by  another,  which 
was  the  dissolution  of  the  religious  houses,  and 
putting  the  revenues  into  the  king’s  hands;  of 
which  I  shall  say  no  more,  than  that  even  Prot¬ 
estants  themselves,  generally  speaking,  cannot 
help  condemning  these  proceedings,  but  are  not 
so  charitable  as  to  believe  that  the  king  or  his 
ministers  were  influenced  herein  by  any  other 
motive  than  avarice. 

In  the  days  of  King  Edward  VI.,  the  Refor¬ 
mation  made  a  far  greater  progress  by  the  favor 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


123 


of  the  Duke  of  Somerset,  Lord  Protector,  his 
successor  Dudley,  Duke  of  Northumberland,  and 
the  other  great  men  about  the  court,  than  by  the 
inclinations  either  of  the  clergy  or  the  people. 
These  great  men  of  the  court  found  their  interest 
in  the  Reformation ,  by  making  up  their  estates 
out  of  the  spoils  of  the  Church,  as  may  be  seen 
in  Dr.  Heylin’s  history,  who,  though  a  great 
friend  to  the  Lord  Protector,  is  forced  to  ac¬ 
knowledge  his  manifold  sacrileges  in  this  kind ;  * 
a  demonstration  that  his  zeal  for  Protestancy 
was  not  grounded  upon  conscience.  And,  as 
for  the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  he  acknowl¬ 
edged  publicly  at  his  death,  that  being  blinded 
by  ambition,  he  had  acted  all  along  against  his 
conscience;  and  what  better  judgment  can  we 
make  of  the  rest  of  the  grandees  of  the  court, 
when  we  find  those  great  sticklers  for  the  Prot¬ 
estant  Reformation ,  as  they  pretended  to  be  in 
King  Edward's  days,  all  to  a  man,  going  to 
Mass  in  King  Henry’s  time,  and  all  returning  to 
Mass  in  Queen  Mary’s? 

But  concerning  the  proceedings  of  these  great 
ones  of  the  court,  and  the  motives  upon  which 
they  proceeded,  let  us  hear  Dr.  Heylin,  in  his 
preface,  where  he  tells  us:  “  That  under  color 
of  removing  such  corruptions  as  remained  in  the 
Church,  they  had  cast  their  eyes  upon  the  spoil 


*  Pages  54,  72,  73,  116. 


124 


A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT 


of  shrines  and  images  (though  still  preserved  in 
the  greatest  part  of  the  Lutheran  churches),  and 
the  improving  of  their  own  fortunes  by  the  chan¬ 
try  lands,  all  which  most  sacrilegiously  they 
divided  amongst  themselves.”  Then,  speaking 
of  the  Zuinglian  gospellers  inveighing  against 
altars:  “The  touching  of  this  string,”  said  he, 
“  made  excellent  music  to  most  of  the  court,  who 
had  before  cast  many  an  envious  eye  on  those 
costly  hangings,  that  massy  plate,  and  other  rich 
and  precious  utensils  which  adorned  these  altars ; 
besides,  there  was  no  small  spoil  to  be  made  of 
copes  —  some  of  them  being  made  of  cloth  of 
tissue,  of  cloth  of  gold  and  silver,  or  embroi¬ 
dered  velvet.  And  might  not  these  be  hand¬ 
somely  converted  into  private  uses,  to  serve  as 
carpets  for  their  tables,  coverlets  to  their  beds, 
or  cushions  to  their  chairs  and  windows?  .Here¬ 
upon  some  rude  people  are  encouraged  under¬ 
hand  to  tear  down  some  altars,  which  makes 
way  for  an  order  of  the  council  to  take  down  all 
the  rest,  and  set  up  tables  in  their  places,  fob* 
lowed  by  a  commission  to  be  executed  in  all 
parts  of  the  kingdom  for  seizing  of  the  premises 
for  the  use  of  the  king.  But  as  the  grandees  of 
the  court  intended  to  defraud  the  king  of  so  great 
a  booty,  and  the  commissioners  to  put  a  cheat 
upon  the  court  lords,  who  employed  them  in  it, 
so  they  were  both  prevented  in  some  places. by 
the  lords  and  gentry  of  the  country,  who  thought 


THE  TRUE  RELIGION. 


125 


the  altar  cloths,  together  with  the  copes  and 
plate  of  their  several  churches,  to  he  as  necessary 
for  themselves  as  for  any  others.  This  change 
drew  on  the  alteration  of  the  former  liturgy.” 
So  far  the  doctor. 

But  as  religion  could  not  be  changed  without 
the  concurrence  of  the  parliament,  let  us  hear 
from  the  same  Protestant  historian  of  what  kind 
of  men  this  reforming  parliament,  which  first 
settled  the  Protestant  religion  in  Great  Britain, 
was  composed,  and  by  what  motives  they  were 
influenced:  “The  parliament  (of  King  Edward 
VI.)  met  on  the  fourth  of  November,  in  which 
the  cards  were  so  well  packed  that  there  Avas  no 
need  of  any  other  shuffling  to  the  end  of  the 
game.  Though  this  parliament  consisted  of  such 
members  as  disagreed  amongst  themselves  in  re¬ 
spect  of  religion,  yet  they  agreed  Avell  enough 
together  in  one  common  principle,  which  was  to 
serve  the  present  time,  and  preserve  themselves. 
For,  though  a  great  part  of  the  nobility  and  not  a 
few  of  the  chief  gentry  in  the  House  of  Commons 
were  cordially  affected  to  the' Church  of  Rome, 
yet  were  they  willing  to  grve  way  to  all  such  acts 
and  statutes  as  Avere  made  against  it,  out  of  a 
fear  of  losing  such  church  lands  as  they  Avere 
possessed  of,  if  that  religion  should  prevail  and 
get  up  again.  And  for  the  rest,  avIio  either  were 
to  make  or  improve  their  fortunes,  there  is  no 
question  to  be  made,  but  that  they  came  resolved 


126  A  SURE  WAY  TO  FIND  OUT,  ETC. 

to  further  such  a  Bcformation  as  should  most 
visibly  conduce  to  the  advancement  of  their  sev¬ 
eral  ends,  which  appears  plainly  by  the  strange 
mixture  of  the  acts  and  results  thereof — some 
tending  to  the  present  benefit  and  enriching  of 
particular  persons,  and  some  again  being  devised 
of  purpose  to  prepare  a  way  for  exposing  the 
revenues  of  the  Church  unto  spoil  and  rapine.” 

As  Queen  Elizabeth  and  her  chief  ministers 
took  the  same  method  as  the  court  of  reformers 
of  King  Edward’s  days  had  done,  enriching 
themselves  at  the  expense  of  the  Church,*  so  we 
have  all  the  reason  in  the  world  to  think  that 
they  acted  upon  the  like  motives;  though  what 
seems  to  have  had  the  greatest  influence  upon 
the  queen  to  make  her  so  close  a  friend  to  the 
j Reformation  was,  “  That  she  knew  full  well  that 
her  legitimation  and  the  Pope’s  supremacy  could 
not  stand  together,  and  that  she  could  not  pos¬ 
sibly  maintain  the  one  without  discarding  the 
other.”  f 

*  As  may  be  seen  in  Dr.  Ileylin,  pp.  2S0,  292,  293,  295,  310,  313, 

328,  etc. 

fDr.  Ileylin,  p.  275. 


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